Sister Tale: Katsusaki Mo
by Ink Parallax
Summary: 'Katsusaki Mo squinted out the passenger side window, glaring up at the green-and-white pride-monster known as Konoha High School. Not particularly prestigious, nor particularly expensive. "So? What do you think?" She thought it was hideous. "It looks nice."' Undergoing re-write. AU. OC-centric.
1. Chapter 1

Mr. Emerson sighed, rubbing his brow slowly before looking up at the blonde before him. On his desk was a small plaque with his name etched and painted on it, and on his wall a diploma, in the corner a plant. It was very unoriginal, very boring. The blond found himself wanting desperately to turn the office upside down. It was ridiculous how inartistic the place was, and it made him kind of sick.

Mr. Emerson was a balding man, with a permanent frown on his face. The _principle _of Konoha High School, KHS, the home of the Fox, the lamest mascot ever. There had been countless people trying to change the mascot for years now, but it was never any different. The school's staff was uptight and ridiculous, and boring. Hypocritical, too. None of the student's wanted them to take out the cookie dough from the lunch menu, but they did it anyway, didn't they?

"Deidara, this is the third time this year. I don't know what I can _do _anymore. I'm aiming for expulsion." Mr Emerson bellowed, mostly unintentionally. He had a naturally deep voice and a wide girth, which sometimes made it difficult for him to get out of his office. The door was too thin. He looked gargantuan in the small office chair.

"With all due respect, George-"

"You'll call me Mr. Emerson, Deidara. We are _not _friends."

Deidara nodded. "With all due respect, _Mr. Emerson._" He grinned wickedly, tossing his hands in the air as he spoke. "It was art! Purely art! I was expressing myself to the best of my ability, like you guys mentioned thousands of times."

"Deidara, you know very well that… _this _isn't what we mean. We want you to express yourself in a _safe _manner. Putting exploding paint-balls in the girl's locker room isn't exactly in the well-being of others!" Mr. Emerson said, somehow sounding tough despite the fact that he looked ridiculous in the suit that barley fit him. Deidara raised an eyebrow, but he got the point. "I'll be forced to call your mother, Deidara."

That alone was enough to make Deidara start begging for mercy, if not for the fact that Mr. Emerson began to add;

"You will be suspended for the rest of the week. When you come back, I will request a conference with your mother so we can figure out what to do about this."

Deidara left the office feeling rather disgruntled. He swept a strand of long blond hair from his bright blue eyes and glared at his uniform black shoes, shoved his hands in his pressed pants pockets. The teachers had no control over the boy, they hadn't since he was in fourth grade. The shy, short blond haired boy who stared at all of the people he knew from the corner of the room changed over the summer, and when he came back to fifth grade he was the party boy, the class clown, the one that knew how to get in-and out-of trouble. Everyone knew it, everyone had since he started doing what he was doing.

Deidara sat down in one of the lightly cushioned office chairs that were decently comfortable, compared to the regular plastic ones found in the class rooms and the cafeteria. He feared the wrath of his mother beyond all else.

"Suspended?"

Deidara looked up, surprised to find the one person that stayed beside him no matter how annoying he was. Ok, so maybe Deidara happened to cling to _him _but, still, he never pushed him away. Well, he didn't push him away too often. He was accepted when with him.

"Yeah," Deidara grinned up at him, his smile extremely crooked. The red head raised a delicate eyebrow and sighed, sat down next to him. Deidara wondered how the boy managed to get in here, then again, almost every female, on staff and off, had a crush on him. He probably simply charmed his was past the secretary's office and into the waiting room. And, along with his wonderful lady-friends that he often passed off for imbeciles, the male teachers liked him for his inspiring grades and impossible-to-hit pitches on the base ball field, as well as his incredible lob's when playing tennis. He was the star of the school, loved by all woman, hated by all nerds, only because they were so jealous. It was crazy, of course. Sasori wasn't the type to pay attention to that kind of thing, either.

It was especially strange since he had decided to jump away from his amazing talents of hitting endless home-runs just this year. He had always been talented with art, but now he really seemed to be getting into it. Deidara was not as stupid as to think he had done it, but he liked to pretend that he did, even if it was not true.

"Idiot," Sasori mumbled, looked out the window.

Deidara glared at the red-head, but he wasn't really paying attention to his blond companion.

Sasori was used to this by now. It had happened way too many times. He was the good boy, always had been. Not like he cared, he just found it too easy to fail any of his classes. He studied, sure, but he had time for a life. Mostly, the life that was forced on him by Deidara who often wanted to go out and stare at the female's who lingered around the city center. Which was actually where the blond, bomb eccentric boy worked.

It was just him and Deidara against the world, ever since they had met. Well, besides the rest of the loosely connected gang of people. They were all connected by the fact that they sat together at lunch. Neither Sasori nor Deidara cared much for it, but it was simply the only other people in school they knew, so they hung around them.

Sasori was the most… detached. He never found much of a point in having friends. The other eight people of their group, which they secretly called Akatsuki for no apparent reason, were much more reliable. The ten held parties, and went out to vandalize sometimes. Sasori didn't bother to be a part of that sort of thing. He found it was beneath him.

Deidara was the most recent person to join the group. He didn't really seem like he wanted to, but when Itachi (he scowled at the name) fetched him, after Pein had seen him all alone in the lunch room when he transfered to KHS from the other high school across town, he went through 'initiation' and became a part of their 'family.' Deidara fit into the pack, like it was made for him. He had finally felt like he found a city that he belonged in.

That was pretty much how they met. Deidara had attached himself to Sasori the moment he met him, and that was it. He had been cocky and rude at first, but after a bit of Sasori showing he either didn't care, or would hint at death threats with the murderous intent he could send with only his eyes, they fit into a routine that suited both of them.

It was a simple story, but it made sense, and that was pretty much all that mattered.

Sasori glanced over at Deidara. He knew that the blond didn't want to be kicked out, but he was too defiant to say such things. The boy really was an idiot, wasn't he?

Sasori sat down next to Deidara and leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs. He wouldn't wait for Deidara to stop pouting, but his patience might allow him a couple moments of sitting next to the blond boy.

If anything, people would believe that to be Sasori's only flaw. He was not a patient boy, never had been. Ever since he was a child, ever since his parents died and he was left to the grandmother he desperately hated, Sasori had been impatient. He had never tried to change this fact, and honestly didn't care what other people said about it. However, it made him just annoying enough for most people to stay away.

Deidara sighed and stood up several moments later, just as the bell rang. He had good timing. He said it was mostly because of his talents, those of which only included sculpting and bombing his tests. Sasori fallowed swiftly, and together they walked to their next class.

Katsusaki Mo glared at the school, her worst enemy. Moving, again, as they usually did. Konoha High was nothing special. It was packed to the brim, gigantic, but it was the same as every other. She didn't even want to be here.

Her mother had insisted that it was a good thing; that her moving into this weird place was a fantastic opportunity and she should enjoy it as much as possible. Katsusaki Mo had just glowered out her window grumpily and ignored her at that point. She didn't want to care; she never did.

But she loved her mother, despite the constant moving the last two years. The woman, who went by the name Takara, had insisted that this was the place. They had found a nice home, a real house this time instead of the usual apartment building, and with an interesting sun-room type building that looked like a piece of scrap in the back yard. Well, it wasn't amazing. Definitely a fixer-up-er. But after living in the house—which was nice, despite the fact that the area around the house looked bad—for a couple days, the two-mother and daughter-realized that it wasn't half bad. Though that didn't necessarily make it half good, either.

Katsusaki Mo had decided that this was the sign that they would be staying in Konoha. The house was the one thing saying that it was not temporary. That Takara had found a place that she liked, and that they would finally be able to live there for more than a few months.

"I love you, Mo."

Katsusaki put her hand on the handle of the door and opened it, escaping the confines of the car. She turned around, grabbing her backpack, and looked up at her mom. She was a beautiful woman, could have been a model, with exotic tan skin and dark green eyes, and black, slightly curly hair that fell down her back in gentle waves. She smiled a sparkly, sorry smile. She was on her way to drop off her younger brother, then to her first job interview; there would be several more that week.

Katsusaki couldn't help but smile back, though it was less lustrous and showed her sadness. She could see her mother become slightly unhappy and struggled to fake her happiness a bit better. She glanced to the back seat and could see her younger brother beginning to look slightly restless. He shot her a grin, however, and she gave him a peace sign before turning back to her mother.

"I love you, too, mom. Good luck," and then she closed the door, and turned to face her new school.

It was okay looking, but not amazing. The 'not amazing' part was made up of the kids. There obviously weren't rules on dying your hair or getting piercings. It was one of those schools that couldn't decide whether to be strict, or to allow its kids to represent their individuality.

Katsusaki took a deep breath and quickly began her way inside. The cool air conditioning blasted her in the face, sending her hair that she had struggled to make perfect that morning into disarray. She began her way towards the office, that of which she was easily directed to, thanks to sign's that seemed almost unnecessary, all the while struggling to push her hair back into the way she had it pointlessly. She entered, finding herself staring at an old, large woman sitting at the desk, chewing bubble gum and typing mechanically away at a computer. She bit her lip and walked up to the desk, waiting for the woman's attention. She didn't seem to be pulling her eyes from the computer anytime soon, so Katsusaki sighed.

"Uh, hello. I'm Outoyo, Katsusaki Mo, the new student." The woman didn't look up, simply picked up several pieces of paper that were next to her and slammed them down on the desk in front of her. Mo thanked her, not quite meaning it, and looked at the papers. A schedule, a list of rules, and some flyer about clubs and activities.

Katsusaki looked at her schedule, her first class starting at 7:40. The need to look at the clock was unnecessary; the bell rang a moment later, and she flinched. Well, she was definitely going to be late for her first class.

As she stepped out into the hallway the last person's foot disappeared behind a doorway. She sighed at the fact that her first impression was going to be horrible, but with a second look at her schedule she peered around for a map. There were none.

"This place already sucks," she grumbled to herself. Behind her the door opened again and two people exited the office. Mo blinked as she watched them walk down the hall, trying to decide whether or not she should ask for directions. Neither seemed to really notice her. She couldn't decide whether the blond was a boy or a girl. They were definitely wearing a boy's uniform, but their hair was just… so pretty.

She bit her lip, realizing she was losing her chance. Finally, just as they were about to turn the corner she gulped in a deep breath, waved her arm, and-

Promptly fell on her face.

Mo hit the floor with a hard _slap, _the sound of skin hitting against tile. She groaned and slowly sat up, clutching her head. She really hated how she managed to be the most clumsy person in the world at the worst possible moments. With a sigh she forced herself to her feet and turned to work her way slowly across the school. Maybe she wouldn't be in too much trouble for being late.

She was surprised, however, to find someone standing behind her. Another boy, one she didn't recognize was grinning at her happily. His teeth were bright, and he was dressed in all black, most of it pretty plain. The only extremely strange thing about him was the black gloves he wore, and the combat boots. He was almost goth, without the attitude and the make-up.

He was cute, too. His eyes dark, and his hair dark. His skin was slightly pale, but absolutely flawless. She felt slightly shorter beneath his tallness, as well. She had a feeling he would be a good catch for any girl.

"Oh, uh, hi," Mo greeted. The boy grinned and scooted closer, looking at her with an intense smile.

"Hi! Who are you?" He asked. Mo bit her lip.

"I'm Katsusaki. You can call me whatever variation of the name you'd like." She smiled just slightly, trying to suppress a blush and get him out of her personal bubble at the same time. "What's your name?"

"Tobi. Is Katsu-chan lost?" Katsusaki blushed slightly and nodded her head, cursing herself for her pink cheeks. "Then Tobi will help! Come on!" Tobi bounced down the hallways, making Mo cry out in surprise once he grabbed her wrist and dragged her along for the ride.

"W-wait! I didn't even tell you which class I'm going to yet!"

Obviously, Tobi hardly cared. He simply continued to drag Katsusaki down the hallways, a happy grin on his face and his eyes closed, elevated inside his head. She winced at his unexpectedly tight grip. He seemed so sweet; it was weird to have him almost bruising her wrist off.

He continued to drag her down the hallways without a care in the world, Katsusaki Mo wincing every step of the way, trying to get words out and tell him what she needed to. There wasn't much convincing being done so far.

After much walking, and protesting that was gradually growing less recent, Tobi stopped and looked around.

"Tobi's here!" He shouted, grinning at Katsu. She rubbed her wrist and looked around. She had hardly any idea where 'here' was. Most of the class rooms around them were empty. She frowned and glanced through one of the small rectangular windows. A science class room, but it looked virtually abandoned.

"Um, Tobi?"

"Yes, Mo-chan?"

"My first class is English."

Tobi's face dropped. He looked akin to an abandon puppy and Katsu winced.

"But thank you for helping me find the science wing," she said quickly, trying to salvage what was left of his happiness. Tobi brightened within seconds.

"You're welcome, Mo-chan!" Tobi folded his hands behind his back and rocked on his heels, grinning. Katsu, however, was busy trying to find a way to fix the mess she was in. Her first class was coming close to being halfway over by now, and of course she had completely run down her chance of her English teacher thinking she was an okay kid. First impressions were always crap for her, she realized with annoyance.

"Ah, is there a map around here anywhere…?" She mumbled, spinning around in a circle once. She spotted one of the far wall and walked over to it while Tobi began spinning around and around in a circle, copying her movements. She traced her finger over to a little golden star placed on the map. Next to it someone had written "You are here" in Sharpie.

She glanced at her schedule and found her first class and struggled to memorize the path she would have to take to her first class.

"Alright, I think I figured it out. Come on, Tobi!" She called, rushing off down the hall. When she glanced back after she realized Tobi wasn't fallowing her, she realized with a sudden shock that he was gone. A second later she didn't care, mostly because she was extremely late at this point. She figured he must have run off to his own class, wherever that was.

She jogged down the hallway and turned several corner's before she got to the English wing. A small, relieved smile found her way onto her face and she searched the number's by the door's until she finally found her class. Without hesitation she pushed open the door to room A13.

She wished she would have hesitated.

Suddenly all eyes were on her, every single person in her class looking straight to where she stood in the doorway, unsuspecting and seemingly incredibly disrespectful. The teacher had stopped whatever he was saying as he stood in front of the class. He glared at Katsusaki Mo for a long, hard moment. She was almost sure she heard thunder clouds in the distance.

"And you are…?" He asked rudely. Mo felt annoyance rise to her face but pushed it down quickly. She couldn't be making faces at her teacher, whom she was sure was already pissed at her.

"I-I'm the new student. Ah, my name is Katsusaki Outoyo," she managed, her voice skipping along with her heart, that of which was slamming hard against her rib-cage.

Suddenly, the man closed his eye smoothly in what could only be recognized as pleasent. He turned fully to Katsusaki, his silvery grey tie swinging as he did so. His crazy white hair seemed to bounce, balanced delicately on top of his head. The weirdest thing about him was the fact that he was wearing a bandana to hide his mouth, and an eye-patch over his right eye. She couldn't help but stare for a moment before realizing it was rude.

Besides the pirate getup he was decently attractive. With a glance at the girl's sitting in all of the front desks she realized he must be some heartthrob at the school. The girl's had stronger glares than the boy's did.

"Oh! Miss Outoyo, welcome," he greeted in a surprisingly nice voice. "I am Mr. Hatake, and this is your new English class." He took a glance around the room before pointing Mo to a seat in the front. She sighed, and hoped desperate that she wasn't going to be picked on exponentially by everyone behind her.

She took her seat next to a brunette wearing a mask over his face. She wondered eerily what was with all of the masks. That was two people now, she realized. She snuck a glance out of the corner of her eye. He seemed normal, besides the fact that he had the most magnificent eyes she had ever seen. They were bright green, almost neon. Her eyes caught and she had to force herself to look away.

She sighed when the bell to end her first class of the day rang and everyone around her stood.

"Well," she muttered to herself, "One down, six to go."


	2. Chapter 2

Katsusaki Mo found her second class with ease, thanks to her first hour teacher, Mr. Hatake. He gave her a map printed out on his computer and she decided that he must be, in fact, the best teacher to have ever existed. With the words "you're a life saver!" she had bounded out the door. He had laughed after that, despite the fact that she didn't know he had, and made her to way to History.

Mr. Sarutobi was a decently interesting teacher as well. He had cigarette buds littering his desk, and despite the fact that all the windows in his room were wide open, his class room still smelled very strongly of smoke. She supposed she didn't mind too much; her grandfather was a smoker and she was pretty much used to it by now, but by the scowls on some people's faces they didn't feel the same way.

Her next class was Photography. A smile found her face at the thought of being in such a class. She had never had a fantastic camera, but she still loved to take pictures with all of her being. And her teacher, Miss Shizune (not married; her fingers were currently completely naked) was a good, supportive teacher. The second Mo walked into the room she had smiled and welcomed her, sat her in the perfect spot; the way back, to the left, closest to the back door.

From Katsu's place in the back of the class she watched the other student's filing in; a blond here, a brunette there. She was surprised, however, when the neon green-eyed boy walked into the room, hands stuffed into the pockets of his black trousers and green tie uniform against his neck, buttoned completely. She was even more shocked, however, as he meandered into the back and sat in the seat right next to hers. She blinked hard and struggled not to stare at him.

Despite feeling like she was already on overload for the class period, another boy she recognized walked into the room. She recalled having seen him that morning, one of the people who had walked out of the office after she had. A red head, with perfectly shaped brown eyes and perfect, pale skin. There was no denying the fact that he was attractive. His tie was loose, as if he didn't really care all that much for the dress code, and his shirt was not pressed as carefully. His sleeves were rumpled where he must have rolled them up doxens of times.

As she was staring curiously, his eyes slid and he found her gaze. Shock flashed across her face before she quickly looked away, embarrassed that she had been caught staring. Sasori raised a delicate eyebrow before looking annoyed.

'_Another annoying girl,' _he thought, irritated.

He looked up when Itachi walked into the room, and the black haired man drifted in his direction.

"Hello, Itachi," Sasori said easily. Itachi nodded and sat down next to him without a verbal greeting in return.

Sasori and Itachi had a strange relationship. Deidara never liked Itachi in the first place, for reason's Sasori didn't know or really care about. For some curious reason Deidara felt—since he clung to Sasori and Sasori tolerated him—that, automatically, the red head must hate Itachi as well. Obviously he didn't agree.

They were both relatively quiet, impassive people. They were very alike. They both excelled in certain things, though Itachi tended to be more of a photography, video kind of person while Sasori liked to paint, draw, and carve when it came to art, and they were popular among the other students of Konoha High School. Similarly, they were both attractive and intelligant.

They had most of their classes together and got along pretty well when they had to tolerate each other. If anything, Sasori preferred to be around Itachi rather than anyone else in their group. A lot of the characters that he surrounded himself with were all very… interesting, to say the least, and often annoying, to say the most.

Sasori noticed as Itachi's eyes slid to the left side of the room, past both Sasori and Kakuzu, another one of their companions. He realized that the black haired prodigy must have been looking at the new girl who he had caught staring at him. He was only slightly surprised at the fact that he was showing any interest; then again, they didn't often get new kids in the art classes. The newbie's were too used to the artist's being outcasts in other cities and towns.

It took him a moment to realize Itachi was really staring at her because she was attempting to make conversation with Kakuzu, the most uptight teenager in all of the country. Sasori saw the mild amusement in Itachi's eyes and smirked, looking over to see what the hell the girl was thinking.

Mo pressed her lips together as she glanced over at the neon-green-eyed boy to her right. She really needed to be making a better impression of herself, maybe talking to people for example. And what could it hurt to talk to him, seeing as he was in two of her classes already, before the day was even half over with?

"Er, hi…?" She said it like an awkward question, sitting up straight and looking at the brunette next to her. He stiffened slightly, and Mo realized it had suddenly gotten very, very cold in the photography room.

She wrung out her hands as he didn't answer, the hair on the back of her neck rising. A blush found her cheeks and her throat seemed to tighten. She didn't want to give up now, however, now that she was finally doing something about this.

"My names Katsusaki," she said finally, leaving out the Mo part. Only her very closest friends and family members called her Mo. With a slight, distracting pang in her chest she realized no one other than her family had called her Mo in a long, long time.

"Kakuzu," he answered stiffly. He looked at her, his eyes narrowed dangerously. She wasn't looking at his eyes, though, for fear of not being able to look away and then the awkwardness that would fallow. Kakuzu wasn't particularly used to this.

"I'm new," she said and Kakuzu snorted. Her eyes shot to him just as he was looking away, towards the front of the class.

"As if that wasn't obvious." His tone was cruel and Mo bit her lip, annoyance finding her face.

"Excuse me?" Her voice was filled with a short bitterness that made him smirk smugly to himself, just slightly. He turned to her once more, raising his eyebrow. He made a point of giving her a once over, his eyes raking down her body and back up once again. She looked much more uncomfortable than she did a moment ago.

"Everything about you scream's 'newbie,'" Kakuzu said, his voice oozing his amused tone. She looked extremely insulted, but didn't have a chance to say anything when Shizune stood at the front of the room and gathered everyone's attention.

"Hello class! Before we get started today I'm going to remind you that we have a new student." Shizuen grinned at Katsusaki as she felt herself blush bright red. "Katsusaki Outoyo. I'll spare you the embarrassment of standing up and telling the class your favorite color and where you came from." She shot a meaningful glance at her student's. "If they wanted some extra brownie points they might ask you themselves, yes?"

She clapped her hands together then and smiled.

"Last week we learned about perspectives and leading points. In that respect I would really appreciate if…" She tapped her lip with her finger, "Itachi, you could help Katsusaki gather some of last week's notes. Then you will be put into pairs—that I will be choosing," a collective groan (that Katsu was left out of), "to begin snapping some photos!"

Shizune turned to the white board behind her and picked up a dark blue marker.

"I want a… twenty picture… gallery by the end next Monday from each pair, ten pictures per student. You will separate the pictures, by the way, so I know who did… what." Shizune called, mumbling and slowing slightly when she had to write something down. "I want you to do four pictures of plants—any kind, mind you. You have to come up with something interesting. Four pictures of inanimate objects. Interesting ones, please; no everyday objects like couches and forks. And two pictures of your partner-something that says something about them, that describes them. That's why we have partners, people!"

Shizune spun around and put her hands on her hips, surveying her class while they rushed to get out a piece of paper and a pen to write down their assignment. Katsusaki had frozen up before realizing that she should probably be writing all of this down, too, and quickly scribbled the notes in her already prepared note book.

"Now, I do hope that you guy's take your time trying to figure this out. I'm not going to let you off with poorly taken photographs. I want hard work; I want your blood, sweat and tears. Understand?" The class grumbled something barely audible and Shizune sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Alright, time to pair up," Shizune called with renewed vigor. She reached her desk and grasped a sheet of paper and immediately began listing names. "…Yushiko and Kimi…" some names Katsu didn't bother to hear, "Kakuzu and Sasori, Jin and Okotu," More names that didn't stick out at all, "Shenjiko and Kila, and finally Katsusaki and Itachi," Shizune finished. She folded the paper and tossed it onto her desk when she was done, grinning at her student's. "Well, pair up!" She called, crossing her arms as if it were obvious. "I'm not letting you just sit around for the rest of the class period. Prepare and share your ideas!"

Katsusaki watched as all of the other people in her class stood and stretched and wandered over to their partners. She bit her lip and sunk a little further into her desk. She realized that she had no idea who this Itachi person was.

She found out a moment later as a boy with long, thin black hair pulled back in a low pony tail slid into the desk in front of hers and turned to face her. She stiffened slightly as he did so, his dark eyes extremely intense. She felt like he had scared her heart into forgetting to beat for a moment, before it started up again in over drive. She quickly forced herself to calm, took a deep breath, and put a smile on her face.

"I, er… Hi." She said simply, feeling like an idiot. "You're Itachi?" She asked. Hell, she realized she would feel like the stupidest person in the universe if it turned out he wasn't. He nodded politely, though, and set a notebook carefully on her desk.

"These are the note's we've taken in this class so far," he said simply. Katsu was a little surprised that he had bothered to go the extra bit by giving her all of the note's instead of last week's. She figured, however, that he simply didn't want a bad grade on their assignment because of her not knowing some of the things that needed to be included. Anyone would do it, even herself, she decided.

"Oh, thank you. Can I take these home and give this back to you tomorrow?" Katsu asked, a curious smile on her face, as she carefully opened the note book. His script was elegant and easy to read. It seemed as if he took extra care to make sure every letter was perfect. She was almost fooled into thinking that he had printed the notes off of the computer, onto note book paper. On the latest page was the list.

_Four plants_

_Four inanimate objects_

_Two pictures of your partner_

_Due next Monday_

"Yes, as long as you return them to me before class tomorrow."

She quickly placed both notebooks in her backpack, still blushing hard.

"So, ah, what exactly do we need to plan out?" Katsu asked tentatively. Itachi shifted the seat he had taken, but otherwise remained expressionless.

"What we would like to take photos of. Do you own a camera?" It didn't even sound like a question, his voice was so flat.

"Yes, I do," Katsu nodded.

"We will get started tomorrow."

The bell rang then and Katsusaki jumped, not expecting it. Itachi had gathered his book's and was out the door before she even realized he was gone. By the time she had managed to put her things together most of the people had left to room. She sighed and stood, grasping her messenger style bag and slinging it over her shoulder before moving to escape the confines of the classroom.

"Katsusaki," Shizune called before she was out the door. She stopped and turned, smiling politely and curiously. Her eyes flickered over the small set of pig figurines on her desk before sliding back up to her kind expression.

"Yes, Ms. Shizune?" She asked easily. The short haired woman smiled softly.

"How do you like Konoha High so far?" She asked, her smile seeming somewhat forced.

"It's good," Katsusaki said expectantly. "I like being here. In fact, this is the best school I've ever been to." It was a lie. Every school was exactly the same, at least, most of them, besides the one that had the flat screen television in the art room. _That_ was the best school she had ever been to.

"Good, good," Shizune said before ushering her out. "Get to your next class before you're late, alright?" Katsusaki nodded and quickly exited.

Her next class was Astronomy, and her teacher a nice brunette man named Mr. Umino. He seemed decent enough, but she got the feeling that he would make a better grade school teacher; he had the softness that would be much more use there. At least, she thought so until he yelled rather loudly and rather viciously at two girls who weren't paying attention, and threatened detention.

"Alright, I'm passing out a worksheet now. I want you to fill it out the best you can. Don't worry, you can talk, but if it gets too loud I'm taking away that privilege for the day, got it?"

"Got it," the class chorused, and he smiled and dropped a stack of paper on each of the rows in the front.

Immediately everyone began murmuring to one another, some people shuffling around to sit next to their friends. Katsusaki was sat around the middle, so she had to pass back the pile before being able to retrieve her pencil and look over the problems. She wasn't so surprised to find that she knew a lot of the answers. They were relatively simple, thing's she had been interested in before taking the class-information she had gotten from reading books for fun or just pure curiosity.

It was simply naming constellations. She liked the thought of the stars and the night sky and the day sky and everything inbetween, anyhow. She liked feeling small. She just felt more comfortable that way.

"How did you manage that?"

Katsusaki looked over, surprised to find a blue haired girl staring at her wide eyes, just after she finished filling in the name for Sagittarius.

"What do you mean?" Katsu asked with a frown etched on her face.

"I mean, you've been here, what; all of five minutes and you're the first one to finish the worksheet." She stared, wide eyed. "Seriously, I love Astronomy, but I suck at it."

Katsusaki smiled awkwardly.

"I could help you, if you want me to…" She offered carefully. The girl's face brightened up quickly and she scooted their desk's closer together.

"I'm Konan, by the way," she said, her voice a soft soprano. Katusaki looked at her, panging with jealously at her perfectly angled face and her smooth skin, not to mention her carefully lined, narrow eyes.

"Hi; Katsusaki," Katsu introduced.

"Can I call you 'Saki, Katsusaki?" Konan asked, a giggle escaping her petal pink lips. Katsu nodded and she smiled pleasantly. "Hreat! Now, what is this one?" She asked, pointing with a long, manicured finger. Katsu went on explaining.

By the time the bell rang they found they both had plenty in common, and enough not so much in common that they were giggling over something Konan was explaining her boyfriend had done. Katsu laughed, her eyes glittering with mirth as the blue haired girl finished. Her insight on feelings and common sense was incredible. She knew exactly how to make Katsusaki laugh, and Katsu knew that she had probably just made a best friend-or as close to one as she could get on her first day at a new school.

"Then he starting jumping all over the place," Konan giggled. The two stood to gather their books and other such item's, laughter on their faces.

"That's hilarious," Katsusaki laughed, pointing out the obvious. Konan didn't seem to mind. She swept her blue hair back behind her ear, the large white, paper flower in her hair crinkling slightly. Katsu looked at the flower, a thoughtful look on her face. Konan had told her how she loved origami, and loved creating things with simple and complicated folds of colored and non-colored paper. However, she hadn't made the flower herself. When Katsu asked who had, she simply shook her head and turned away, pointing the conversation back towards their worksheet. Katsusaki had gotten the hint.

"You have to show me how to do that," Katsu said, sighing as she looked at the gorgeous flower. Konan laughed.

"Well, I'll show you how to make all of the things you want, as long as you help me with my Astronomy homework," Konan said, laughter in her eyes. Katsusaki smiled.

"Agreed."

When Katsusaki turned towards the door she noticed an orange haired boy leaning against the frame. She didn't recognize him-he hadn't been in their Astronomy class. He had cold eyes, like ice, and a hard stare. His entire face was lined with piercings that looked painful. Katsu winced-everything about him seemed to say he was potentialy going to beat her up. That, and she hated the sight of things stuck through skin, or split skin in general. One time she had gotten a paper cut and had to fight a panic attack while her mother ran to get a bandaid.

Konan shot her an amused look and then bounded over to the orange haired boy, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Hi, Pein!" She giggled. He gave the other girl across the room one more glance before his eyes fell on his girlfriend. Konan had that thoughtful, mischievous look on her face and he felt fear jolt through him at once. She wanted something, and she had that look about her that said she was going to make sure she got whatever it was.

She stood on her tip toes and her mouth danced beside his ear as she whispered something to him.

Pein stared at her hard, then looked once again at the girl across the room who looked sort of awkward.

"Look, Konan, I have to get to Trig, so…"

"Fine," Pein muttered and Konan grinned. She spun around, shocking the girl into hopping back a step, making Konan laugh.

"Are you sitting with anyone at lunch, 'Saki?" She asked. Said girl shook her head, realization sliding onto her face, and then a relieved look as the blue haired girl invited her to sit with her and her friends.

"I would love to," she said with a laugh and a smile. Konan cheered, then quickly ushered Pein out the door. They walked in the opposite direction Katsu needed to go and quickly disappeared in the crowd of student's. She sighed and dashed across the hall, trying not to get run over by other student's. Her Trigonometry class was on the second floor, so she had to rush upstairs before she was late.

Even though she was surrounded by faces she mostly had never seen before, she couldn't help but smile. Maybe this time she wouldn't feel so alone.


	3. Chapter 3

Katsusaki stared at the lunchroom, looking positively horror stricken. She couldn't see her blue haired friend or her orange haired boyfriend anywhere. Was she really being stood up by jerks already? She had been almost sure that Konan wasn't like that at all, not in the slightest.

She jumped when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around, and was immensely surprised to see Konan there, grinning at her.

"I forgot to tell you!" She had to yell over the screams and call's and laughter of all of the other teenagers in the lunch room. "We don't eat in the lunch room! Come-on!" Konan grasped Katsusaki's hand and began to pull her out of the lunch room until they were in the hall and the door closed behind them, muffling the sound. She looked at Katsu, an amused look on her face. "I think it's a bit obvious why we don't. It's so loud." She made an annoyed face and Katsu laughed, mostly because she was relieved that she would actually have someone to sit with instead of standing around like an idiot for several long minuets.

"Well, then, where do you guys eat?" Katsu asked curiously. Konan grinned.

"You'll see."

Katsu was surprised when the blue haired girl led her up a flight of stairs that she had not seen on the map. When Katsu was beginning to look nervous Konan was quick to explain.

"It's the old part of the building. The old science wing, actually. The teacher's don't use it anymore because the new science wing has better equipment," Konan said easily, a pretty smile on her face. "It's kind of like our own little hide out, right?" She asked laughingly.

Katsu suddenly realized she recognized this area. This was where Tobi had dragged her when she got lost. She tilted her head slightly in curiosity as she spotted the map on the wall. Now that she thought about it, it had a little extra bit on it that wasn't on the map Mr. Hatake, her English teacher had given her.

Konan walked into one of the classrooms, but Katsusaki didn't see anyone else around. She looked confused and Konan giggled. She walked to what Katsu thought was supposed to be supply closet, but when the blue haired girl opened the door it turned out to be another stairwell, this time going down.

"When the contractors built the place they messed up slightly and ended up making an extra room and a stairway from here leading down into it. They accidentally sealed it off, and ever since no one has bothered to fix it. Maybe even forgot about it.

"My friend Itachi found it in his freshmen year, and when he met us he showed us all here. Ever since then we have eaten lunch here," Konan explained as she walked down the stairs, Katsusaki fallowing closely behind in the dark. "Before we got down here it had been really dusty and used for storage, so we cleaned it out and fixed it up!" She announced happily. Katsu heard her fiddling with a doorknob before suddenly, a door at the bottom was thrown open and on the other side was a rather bright room. Katsu's assaulted pupil's dilated painfully and she squinted.

"Konan! Tobi needs help!"

Katsu knew the second she heard that voice who it was. She opened her eyes wider once adjusted just as Konan walked inside the room. Now that she wasn't blocking her view, Katsu was greeted with the sight of a normal looking classroom. There were windows, though they weren't the most clean and faced the very back of the school, out into the forest where no one would ever notice. There were old desk's, most of them carved into, in disrepair; desk's that the school wouldn't want to even use any more.

There wasn't a white board or a chalk board up on the wall, but an old spinning board, one side for chalk and one side a white board pushed against the back wall. The walls were colored the light green and the white color the entire school sported.

The room, however, held nine people otherwise. Six of which she recognized. Itachi; who she remembered Konan had said found the room (she _had_ curious as to whether it was her photography partner or not.) The red head boy with the brown eyes who had been Kakuzu's partner (she recalled Shizune had said his name was Sasori), Kakuzu; still wearing his checked bandana, Pein; Konan's boyfriend; Konan, obviously; and finally Tobi, who was running around in circles like a chicken with its head chopped off.

The three she didn't recognize was a tall, pale boy with yellow-silver eyes who was sporting grass-green hair; a tall, muscle-y guy, also extremely pale with shockingly silver hair and pale violet eyes; and once more, another tall boy with, this time, bright blue hair and dark blue eyes.

"Hidan!" Konan scolded, sounding very motherly, "stop picking on Tobi!"

"Whatever," the silver haired guy said, waving his hand dismissively. His attention had traveled elsewhere, towards Katsu, actually, who was still standing cautiously in the doorway. She was staring at everyone with wide eyes, her lips pursed. He smirked dangerously and Katsusaki had the sudden urge to vomit; she was so nervous by his stare. "Who are you?" He asked, sounding very… smooth.

A vein in Konan's temple bulged. She attacked Hidan with a rolled up newspaper, that of which Katsu was very suspicious as to where it had come from.

"You pig!" She shrieked while he yelped, trying to bat her away. Finally, he had to give up and just run from her fury. Tobi began laughing, clapping his hands together childishly.

"Zetsu, Kisame," Itachi gathered the blue haired boy's and the green haired boy's attention. "This is my Photography partner, Katsusaki," Itachi introduced. He turned to Katsu, who was still looking extremely hesitant. "This," he gestured the blue haired boy, "is Kisame, and this," he pointed to the green haired boy "is Zetsu."

"Hi," Katsu said meekly. She jumped when Kisame laughed, his voice booming.

"Don't look so scared. I don't bite—hard." He laughed at his own joke. Katsu couldn't help the small smile that landed on her lips, making him grin, baring very white teeth, and extremely sharp (but not extended) canines. Something about him seemed almost… shark like. Maybe it was his sharp, gaunt features, or his rippling muscles. She had no idea, but whatever it was, it was frightening.

"Konan told us about you," Zetsu said softly, a tiny, meek smile on his face. "She said that you told her you'd already met most of us."

"Ah, yeah," Katsu nodded and smiled at him. She blushed a tiny bit as she forced herself to actually enter to room, rather than standing in the door way all day. The door she had been holding open clicked shut, and she very suddenly felt very much trapped.

"Ah, well, sorry about that," Konan said, Hidan twitched as he hid behind a desk, away from her. She gestured at the silver haired boy. "That's Hidan." Katsusaki didn't bother telling her that she had already figured that out. She turned around the entire group.

"Guy's, this is 'Saki. Be nice, kay?" Konan giggled, then hopped over to what Katsu assumed was her backpack and began fishing around inside. When she pulled back, she had a sandwich in hand and Hidan had decided he'd rather not cower behind a desk all day.

"Why the hell is she here, anyway?" Hidan barked, annoyance on his face. Well, at least until he was looking at Katsu again, a smirk on his face.

"She's my new friend!" Konan announced. "And now she's yours, too." A laugh escaped her lips and a slight look of annoyance appeared on Pein's face.

"Konan, we need to talk," he said. His voice was deep and almost threatening, but Konan didn't look the least bit worried. The two escaped up the stairs and Hidan rolled his eyes, annoyed, as Katsu sat down in one of the desk's and dragged both Itachi's and her own notebook from her messenger style bag. She swiftly began to copy down her notes.

"So, Katsu…" Kisame began, catching her attention. She looked up, her mint green eyes wide with curiosity. "What's your next class?" He asked, still grinning. She grasped her schedule and looked at the sixth hour class.

"Myths and Legends with Yuhi," she announced. Zetsu seemed to brighten suddenly, much like a plant that was getting both water and sun for the first time in a long while.

"I have that next as well," Zetsu said softly, smiling pleasantly. Katsu smiled, too, hoping that she would get to sit next to this new friend (hopefully) in her next class. Someone she'd know before she even stepped into the class room.

"I do, too, dipshit," Hidan growled, crossing his arms. Upset because the attention wasn't on him, Katsu decided. Zetsu's eyes flashed and he glared viciously at Hidan. The sudden emotion difference shocked Katsu into widening her eyes.

"Call me a dipshit again, _dipshit_, and I'll punch you so hard you'll have to wear dentures," he growled smoothly, a small, evil smirk on his face

"Wh-what…?" Katsu asked, looking at Kisame, begging for an answer. He laughed as Zetsu blushed and ducked his head while Hidan pouted angrily.

"He's a Gemini," Kisame said, his voice strained as if holding back a heavy laugh.

"Ah, sorry, Katsu," Zetsu said bashfully. She decided then that she _never _wanted to get on Zetsu's bad side, because his bad side… well, horrible side was more like it.

In the science class room above that one Pein was looking at Konan who waited patiently for him to start talking.

"You can't just bring people along to 'hang out' whenever you want, you know."

"Everyone else seems to like her," Konan said swiftly, knelling all of the arguments currently on his mind. Frustrated, he struggled to think of a comeback.

"But you didn't know they would. We can't talk about out club with her there, or the things we might be doing."

"Then invite her into the club!" Konan cheered; a delicate smile on her face. Pein narrowed his eyes, struggling to think with her smiling like that.

"We can't. We don't know her; she could go off telling everyone about us. Our secrets."

"She doesn't have any other friends, Pein. And she doesn't know our secrets!" She grinned, flashing her white teeth. Pein took a deep breath in through his nose.

"If she was a part of the club, she would."

"Well, I will make sure she doesn't." Konan nodded, her sense rattling his brain. He hated it when she was right; it drove him crazy. It was as good as gone on his part.

"Fine," Pein spat. Konan laughed and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a tight hug.

"Thank you, so much! You have no idea what it means to me, to have another girl to talk to!" She cheered. Pein felt slightly guilty for that, like one of those controlling boyfriends that didn't allow their girlfriends to have other people to talk to. It was long overdue that she have a girlfriend. He couldn't stop the smile at seeing her happiness as she bounced back down the steps to tell her new friend the news.

When Konan opened the door, she was only mildly surprised to find her chatting amiably with Zetsu and Kisame. The two were exceptionally nice people, despite their inane hair colors. Hidan was sitting to her right, arms crossed and pouting, despite the fact that he seemed to be listening. She knew that they would all jump at the chance to get to know this girl. Well, at least, the most outgoing of the group would. She was cute, with her auburn hair cut short and her smile wide as she listened to Kisame explain something. His happiness was incredibly infectious when he was throwing his arms around as if he were performing some kind of whole bodily puppet show, just to explain.

"Well, when he doesn't like people, he's usually really cruel about it. But otherwise he's a pretty awesome guy, right, Zetsu?" Kisame laughed, nudging the green haired boy. He blushed bright pink and ducked his head.

"I guess so…" He murmured and Katsu giggled. Konan could tell that she belonged here, in their little group of misfit's. She fit perfectly, like a puzzle piece. She had easy connections to all of the people in the room; she just didn't know it yet.

"Hey, 'Saki!" Konan yelped, jumping over to her table. Her paper flower wobbled and almost fell out from behind her ear, but she quickly fixed it. The red head looked up at her, her head tilted in curiosity. "Do you want to come over to my place tonight?" She asked.

"Uh, sure," she said happily.

Katsusaki had never imagined that she might be this lucky, to be able to find so many friends so quickly. She definitely didn't expect to be invited to someone's house already.

"Great!" Konan laughed. The bell rang just then, surprising Katsu. She bit her lip and quickly put away her notebooks and gathered her things. She wished she could have gotten more notes written down over her lunch period. She realized, as well, that she hadn't gotten the chance to eat. "Here's my address and my cell phone number, just in case." Konan handed her a piece of paper with the promised things written on it. Katsu thanked her and placed it into her messenger bag.

Between everything, walking down to the lunch from only to realize she had to go all of the way to a different part of the school, watching Hidan being beating by Konan with a newspaper, and then talking to both Kisame and Zetsu, she felt like she found somewhere she could really belong.

"I'll walk with you to our next class, okay, Katsu?" Zetsu stepped into place next to Mo and she nodded, a happy smile on her face.

"That sounds great," she answered truthfully. Zetsu blushed and grabbed his own backpack before the two were the first to rush up the stairs. Once they were out in the hall, they heard Hidan calling after them with annoyance.

"Idiot," Zetsu growled darkly, suddenly becoming very frightening. It was gone after he glared at the offending violet eyed student as he stepped out into the hall next to the pair.

"I fucking told you, I have the same damn class you guys have." Hidan scowled and wrinkled his nose. "The least you could fucking do is wait _the hell_ up."

"Hidan, your mouth is getting on my nerve's," Zetsu growled. Katsu sighed as they began walking to their next class, already having gone ahead of her, too lost in their argument. "Maybe I could help us all out by sewing it shut."

Katsusaki quickly fallowed them, unable to help the laugh that escaped her lips. Zetsu and Hidan looked back at her, Zetsu's expression softening and Hidan's transforming into a smug look.

"What the hell are_ you _laughing at?" Hidan asked, seemingly annoyed.

"Ah, nothing, I guess. Let's hurry up. I don't want to be late."

When they arrived at Ms. Yuhi's classroom she raised a dark eyebrow at Hidan.

"Huh. Seems we're on time for once," she said, while crossing her arms over her rather large bust. Hidan grinned wolfishly at the red eyed woman, making her scowl slightly.

"Anything for you, Ms. Yuhi," he purred. She rolled her eyes.

"That is inappropriate, Hidan. Have a seat." Hidan started towards the sliding chair behind her desk. "Not _there, _Hidan," she growled, jabbing a frustrated finger towards the desk's lined up across the room. "_There_."

Hidan sighed, and Katsu would have been convinced that he was truly disappointed, had he not been smirking. "Right, babe."

"Detention, Hidan. And thankfully not with me. You'll be reporting to the office after school, understood?" She didn't wait for a reply. "Perfect. Won't see you then." Her red eyes turned on Katsusaki as Hidan laughed to himself and took a seat at the back of the classroom. Zetsu had taken his own seat a long while ago, somewhere around the center of the room. Ms. Yuhi's expression changed the moment she saw the red head, and she smiled.

"You must be the new student," she said nicely, a pretty smile underneath her painted lips. "I'm Kurenai Yuhi, but you'll be calling me Ms. Yuhi, like every other kid here," that was aimed at Hidan "for the remainder of the year. Have a seat."

Sadly, Katsu wasn't seated next to her new friends. When she had turned she had been giving them both hopeful looks, but Ms. Yuhi had pointed her towards a seat in the front. She took her seat without complaint, however, and Hidan seemed as if he didn't really care all that much either way. Zetsu, however, gave her an apologetic look when she glanced back at him and she smiled thankfully, happy that he had actually wanted to sit next to her.

"Alright guys. Let's go."

They were right in the middle of a new unit; Japanese myths and legends. However, they had already gotten past most of the birth of the land, and Yomi, the 'shadowy land of the dead,' and were moving onto the Sun, the Moon and the Sea.

It was a strange idea. Every time Izanagi dropped an article of clothing after returning from Yomi, a deity was born. When he went to go cleanse himself in the river, more deity's were born. The most important, Ms. Yuhi explained, were Amaterasu, the 'incarnation of the sun' (from his left eye), Tsukuyomi, the 'incarnation of the moon' (from his right eyes), and Susanoo, 'incarnation of the storms, and ruler of the sea and storms' (from his nose). Izanagi separated the worlds for the three gods to inherit. Amaterasu claimed the heaven's, Tsukuyomi claimed the night and the moon, and Susanoo taking the sea, the storms on most occasions, and sometimes even the sand (but only very rarely).

Katsusaki Mo found it interesting. She had always loved hearing the myths and legends of places, what the people before the people there now thought, and Japan was definitely an interesting place.

When the bell rang she had stepped up to the front of the room and asked what she would have to go over before the test when they were finished. Ms. Yuhi had looked a bit lost for a moment before she began shuffling through her desk.

"Ah, I completely forgot that I would have to get you some notes!" She trilled. Katsu froze, unsure of what to do.

"Ms. Yuhi? If it isn't a problem, I don't mind sharing my notes with Katsu."

Katsu jumped and spun around, before being relieved to find Zetsu standing there. He looked a little tired, his polite Zetsu-ness turned off. He had his hands in his pockets and his tall form was slumped slightly. Both Ms. Yuhi and Katsu shot him a grateful look.

"Thank you, Zetsu," Ms. Yuhi muttered and he nodded.

"Alright." Zetsu smiled at Katsu as he led her out of the class room. "What's your next class?"

"Art. Drawing and painting." Katsu glanced around, a strange look on her face as she searched the hallway. Zetsu shot her a curious look. "Hey, where… where did Hidan go?" She asked, a small frown on her face. Zetsu looked around as well.

"He has gym class last hour, and every time he's late Mr. Guy goes off on a tangent about being youthful and chases him around the room until he gives him a hug." Zetsu made an interesting face after saying that, and Katsu couldn't help but laugh.

"What do you have next?" Katsu asked with a curious look on her face. Zetsu blushed a little as he spoke.

"Just Algebra 2; nothing special." Zetsu shrugged his shoulders and Katsu's face dropped.

"I suppose being by myself in art isn't too bad. At least it's a class I don't mind focusing on." Mo adapted a thoughtful face and Zetsu laughed.

"Well, I know Sasori and Deidara have drawing and painting last hour. But I don't know if they have the same teacher you do," Zetsu said thoughtfully while Katsu tilted her head, her eyebrows scrunching together.

"Who's Deidara?"

Zetsu laughed and shook his head. "You'll find out eventually." Katsu pursed her lips but shrugged when she decided she didn't really care at the moment. Her first day of school was almost over, and it had gone better than she ever expected it would have. She had made friends she hoped she would never forget, and could only wish would never forget her.

* * *

><p><strong><em>AU: Hey, guess who got grounded? _**

**_Tch, well, it definately wasn't me... Anyway, I don't remember if I had said this or not, and I don't want to check, but I want to explain for those who may or may not think that Katsusaki Mo is a Mary-Sue. At first, when creating her I was immensly afraid that someone would start telling me she sucks because she seems like a Mary-Sue, but that's not my intention._**

**_I will explain. In my opinion, when there is a new kid in school, people will often times be drawn to them to lay their claims. Akatsuki is basically laying their claim. Also, Hidan is a player. XD I know Itachi seems to talk a bit more than what would be usual, but remember, this is an AU and I will struggle to keep him in character, but I also feel that people will be changed based on the universe they will be placed in. Also, first bonding section is next chapter! Yay!_**

**_Anyway, sorry for the wait, those of you who were waiting._**

**_Ninja Trio's Best: I will do my absolute GRANDEST to make sure that your one-shot is completed, but I would like to, uhm, say... That I suck at putting Itachi and Sasuke together without agnst. As well, I am not the best at comedy. _However, _I will try my hardest to make it something that you are expecting, and I will try to inform you when it is out! :D Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this._**

**_One last thing. I don't PM for a reason. To tell the truth, I'm advertising right now. Those of you who are intrested might check the next story I publish and try to be the first to comment! Also, perhaps, I might do some kind of competition where someone might get to, I don't know, choose the romantic intrest for my next story... or co-write a story-line... or co-write a character... hey, you never know!_**

**_Anyway, thank you- and good-morning, good-day, good-afternoon, good-night; respectively-to those who bothered to read all the way through this._**


	4. Chapter 4

Katsusaki Mo stepped into her art class and was immediately met with the smell of paint and led, the burning rubber smell of used eraser's, the crinkling sound of paper. She closed her eyes for a moment to enjoy the home that was in every school, no matter where it was. Once she opened her eyes, she was met with the sight of pictures lining the walls, paintings and drawings done by students and famous artists both.

She found the red headed boy amongst the crowd of curious student's and wondered if she should sit by him or not. She didn't know if he would mind sitting next to her. She decided against his fury if she would. If he wanted to actually sit next to her, he would have to say something.

She took a seat near the door, away from most of the people in the room. It didn't take long for the teacher to realize that she was there. An average woman, with blond hair and blue eyes. She smiled when she saw Katsusaki and stepped up to her desk.

"Welcome to drawing and painting!" She trilled, a pleasant smile on her face. Katsusaki looked up at her and stood quickly, feeling embarrassed. The woman was taller than she was, but that might have been because she was wearing high heels.

"Hi, I'm Katsusaki Outoyo, the new student," she introduced. The teacher grinned, and nodded her head.

"I figured. I'm Kaito Makishiko, Ms. Makishiko, or just Kaito, which I truthfully prefer. Now, I'm thinking that we need to get you prepared, yes?" And so she did. Getting Katsu prepared was more of making sure she knew what they were doing. Currently, they were drawing plants, and trying to figure out how to make them look the most realistic, including the little hairs petal's might have, or the rubbery look a leaf might have, and how to get it to look that way. Katsu proved her worth almost immediately with just a few sketches, that of which Kaito asked for.

When the class was over, however, Katsusaki was more than relieved. She was tired from having to deal with all of the homework, and she knew she had more than enough notes to copy down that evening. She couldn't help the excitement, however, knowing that she was going to Konan's house later.

She found she had taken way too much time getting outside, however. The buses were gone. She felt a strange sense of panic rising in her chest as she stared at the street, and all of the other students who were waiting for someone to come and pick them up.

Katsusaki stared at the grass, annoyance filling her features. She wished she would have taken her mother's offer to get a new cell-phone before going back to school. She was planning on just waiting until they all got new phones, when their 'plan' ended, so she wasn't wasting money on a new cell phone when she was getting a different one in just a little while.

"Miss your ride?"

Katsu jumped and was immediately met with a booming laugh. She spun around, shock on her face as her red hair whipped around her. She found Kisame standing behind her, a grin on his face as he laughed at her. He wiped a tear from his eye as she placed a hand against her chest, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart.

"U-uh, yeah," she answered when she remembered he had asked a question. Kisame laughed again, and he slapped a giant hand on her shoulder. She couldn't help but marvel at how much larger he was than her; in comparison, she felt like a mouse.

"Do you want to come with me?" He asked, grinning at her, baring his bright white teeth. Katsu sighed.

"You don't mind?" She asked, looking relieved. Kisame laughed and began to lead her towards the parking lot.

"Do I look like I mind?" He asked, still laughing. Katsu just laughed and thanked him while he walked towards a pick-up truck. She felt like she should have known he would own something like that. He was a big dude, so it was obvious that he would need a pretty big vehicle, or else he would be cramped in anything smaller. He had to help her into the passenger's seat, though, because she was so short. It made him laugh all the more before getting into the driver's side and telling her to buckle her seat belt. She swiftly gave him her address and he nodded, starting the vehicle.

The second the truck was running Kisame was turning on the radio. Katsu grinned when she heard a band start over the speakers and decided then that she would be definitely getting along with Kisame in the future, and hoped she would get to hang out with him often, especially if she would get to sit around and listen to the CD's in his pickup truck.

"You like _Obsessive Derangement_?" Katsu trilled, and Kisame gave her a surprised look.

"Yeah, I do," and he grinned, like he always did. It was much more than contagious at this point.

"Do you want to be best friends?" She asked teasingly, and Kisame bellowed, tossing back his head, and almost hitting someone crossing the street before slamming on the breaks. Katsusaki laughed along with him, unable to help catching his infectious mood.

"Thought we already were, babe!" He just barely managed to sound upset, but his face cracked into a smile a second later. Together they cackled over silly things and sang as loudly as possible, all the way to Katsu's house. She hoped that her mother wouldn't be too concerned when she got out of some random guy's truck, but her mother wasn't necessarily one to jump to conclusions.

Kisame pulled into her driveway and turned down the music on the stereo, giving Katsusaki a grin and a happy 'goodbye, see you tomorrow!' She laughed and jumped out, dragging her messenger bag with her.

"Mom, I'm home!" Katsu yelled as she pushed open the front door. She could hear her mother in the kitchen, clinking together dishes as she washed them.

"Mo!"

Katsu grinned as her little brother came racing over to her, a wide eyed look on his face. Both he and Katsu looked nothing alike. He had black hair, just like their mother, usually cut so it fell around his face messily, covering only one of his bright purple eyes, those of which came from their father. His name was Hikaru, meaning light, the one thing her mother had said she was always proud to have. Katsu had always had the feeling that when he gained a couple inches and pounds on his stick-like body he would be a complete heartthrob. He smiled back at her, throwing his hands in the air.

"Come on, come outside with me!" He commanded, wrapping his hand around her wrist. Katsu yelled in surprise, tossing her bag by the door.

"Mom, we'll be right back!" Katsusaki called, and her mother laughed. Hikaru dragged her out the door and down the hall, pushing her out the door and onto the front porch.

"I can't believe you are hanging out with the Akatsuki!" He cried; his voice cracking. He didn't seem to mind, however, throwing his hands all over the place, his hair getting messed up only slightly more than it was before.

"Who's the Akate-soo-jee?" Katsusaki asked, tilting her head curiously. Hikaru gasped, his eyes widening. She was always jealous of how pretty they were.

"I can't believe you!" His voice shot a couple octaves higher. He grasped her shoulders and shook her back and forth until she became dizzy. "I can't believe you don't know what the Akatsuki are!"

"Well, it would help if you explained," Katsusaki said, her voice wobbly. Hikaru let her go and backed up, looking insulted.

"The Akatsuki are the most feared gang in the whole school—both the middle _and _the high school. If they want something, they get it. And they pick on nerds; and all freshmen, even if they're cool freshmen! I heard they flushed some kid down the toilet and no one ever saw him again—what would they do to a poor little seventh grader like me!" He all but shrieked.

"Calm down! I'm sure they're not going to hurt you-"

"Of course they aren't!" He snapped, puffing up his chest. Katsu would have laughed but she was getting a bit too confused by whatever it was he was talking about. "Why? Well, because my big sister is in it! Do you have any idea how cool that makes me?"

"Wait, why would me being in this club-"

"Gang."

"… er, _gang _make you cool?" Katsu asked, a curiously confused look on her face. Hikaru laughed.

"Because if you're a part of the Akatsuki, no one wants to mess with you, right?"

"I still don't know how I am a part of this Akatsuki thing."

Hikaru ignored her. "Right! If my big sister is a part of the Akatsuki, then no one will want to mess with me, because if they do then they have to mess with you, and therefore, the entire Akatsuki! That was how Sasuke got to be so cool." He crossed his arms and nodded his head, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Wait, who is Sasuke?" Katsu asked, looking very lost and confused.

"Ah, Sasuke Uchiha? His big brother is supposed to be totally icy. It's said that he can send you to another dimension with just his stare," Hikaru yelped, looking scared. Katsusaki suddenly realized something.

"Did you have any sugar lately?"

Hikaru looked very sheepish suddenly and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Yeah. Mom let me have a soda when I got home from school. By the way, why weren't you on the bus? Were you at some sort of initiation ceremony?" Hikaru asked, looking shocked and only slightly worried.

"No, I just missed the bus." Katsu blushed and Hikaru laughed.

"That sounds just like you!" Hikaru laughed and shook his head. "I need to calm down, now, though. Mom is starting to get irritated."

"Why don't you ride your skate board or something?" Katsu suggested and he thought for a moment.

"Nah. I want to play basketball. Do you want to play?" He asked, shooting her a thoughtful, almost pleading look.

"I have notes I need to copy, and then I'm going to a friend's house." Now that she thought about it, she figured it might be a good idea to ask Konan what, exactly, the Akatsuki was and why people thought she had joined their 'club' or 'gang' or whatever it was when she went to go see her.

"Oh, ok." He looked disappointed and she shot him an apologetic look.

"Sorry."

"Nah, it's okay. But you owe me a game," he called as he started towards the garage. Katsu laughed and called after him, but she was sure he didn't hear her. She went inside after that and straight to her mother, ready to explain exactly what had happened.

"Hey, mom," Katsu said as she dragged her messenger bag into the kitchen, setting it on the island counter. Her mother greeted her back. "Did you have any luck today?"

She could see her mother grinning, even though she looked as if she wanted to hide it.

"Thanks to you, I'm pretty sure," she laughed, looking over at her daughter. "Your brother has been freaking out ever since he got home. Where were you?"

"Missed the bus."

"I figured. That's just like you." Katsusaki wasn't sure whether or not she should be insulted or not. She decided against it.

"I was invited over to a friend's house after school today. Is it alright if I go?" Katsu asked as she began towards the stairs, towards her bedroom.

"Yeah, are you eating first?"

"No, I'll eat when I get back!" She called down the steps, then made her way to her bedroom.

It was a simple room. She had her twin bed, her dresser, her desk and a full length mirror nailed to one of the walls, on the corner. Her walls were painted light purple, with white trimming, and she had a hardwood floor. Currently the blankets covering her bed were a deep violet, and the wood on the furniture was stained black. She liked it, but it seemed so empty so far. There was nothing very personal about it… yet, at least.

She threw her book bag on her bed and collapsed right next to it, kicking off her shoes and listening to them clunk to the ground after she did so. With a sigh, she pulled her face from the sheets and began pulling the notebooks from her back pack, a pen fallowing. And so she proceeded to copy down both Itachi's and Zetsu's notes in two separate notebooks.

Halfway through she decided on a break. Itachi's neat handwriting was starting to make her resent him somewhat. She walked over to her window and looked down. She was surprised to see someone she didn't know in her driveway, talking to Hikaru. He had that look about him when talking to people he wasn't that close to.

Hikaru looked completely relaxed, but he was completely emotionless, as well. She had figured a long time ago that it was some kind of defense mechanism of his. He was perfectly normal, exuberant when with her, but otherwise he became someone totally different. Someone who hid behind his hair and never seemed to care much. Maybe it was so he wasn't disappointed in other people

This person, however, was a blond with bright blue eyes, and he was beginning to look slightly annoyed. She smiled, however, and narrowed her eyes slightly. She was happy that he was making friends on his first day, too.

With that she turned around and swiftly began to finish up her work so she could get over to Konan's house.

When she finished she made her way downstairs, her mother telling her that it was, in fact, alright if she borrow her car. She smiled her thanks and quickly stepped outside. She was surprised to find Hikaru and the blond haired boy still there, but now they were playing basketball. She couldn't help the pride she felt when she realized her brother was beating his ass.

"Hey, Hikaru, who's this?" She asked quickly. He stopped suddenly and looked over to his older sister. The blond fell on his face almost immediately and she had to force back a giggle. Hikaru saw her laughter in her eyes, though, and he smirked slightly.

The blond got up and dusted himself off, rubbing his forehead. He looked over to Katsu and gaped, just slightly.

"Naruto," Hikaru said simply. Naruto continued to stare and Katsusaki shuffled, rubbing her cheek, as if to get rid of some stain that might have been there.

"Ah, well, I, er, I'm going to my friend; Konan. My friend Konan." She felt very put on the spot and flushed bright red. Hikaru couldn't help the snicker that escaped from between his lips and she shot him a glare, before quickly escaping to her mother's car. Hikaru and Naruto got out of the way while she backed out.

She found Konan's house with little difficulty. She lived more in the cookie-cutter suburbs, while the Outoyo's lived more out in the country. There was a lack of vegetation and privacy in one's own back yard here.

She knocked on the door nervously. Despite the cookie-cutter-ness, it was a rather large house. One that a lawyer might live in, as long as they had a family.

The door swung open, and on the other side was Konan, looking as radiant as ever. She grinned as soon as she saw Katsusaki. The redheads attention was distracted, however, when a young boy ran past Konan in the background, and was immediately chased by another little boy who looked an awful lot like him. She gave Konan a confused look.

"I'll explain when we get up to my room. Come on!"

Konan immediately grabbed Katsusaki and began dragging her through the house. She was a little annoyed with everyone dragging her all over the place today. She wasn't thinking about that in a moment, however.

The house was very big on the out-side; it seemed much bigger than it had looked. Then again, it had a small feel, if only because there were so many people. All boys, actually, and all looked very much the same. The same blond hair, the same blue eyes, unless they dyed their hair like Konan had, but from what she could tell that was only one other boy around Konan's age who had decided to go with a mix between black and purple. One eyebrow shot up when he saw the blue haired girl dragging Katsusaki up the stairs.

There were more boys upstairs. Despite the fact that they all looked a lot alike, their age was never repeated. She ultimately decided that they must all be Konan's brothers.

Konan pushed her into her bedroom; it was almost completely blue. It was quite shocking when she went inside, like being shoved underwater or something. But that wasn't what awed her into silence. It was the paper creatures, beings and simple item's that hung from the ceiling on strings; that were piled countless-ly atop the cells, on her dresser and around her bed. On her dresser was a big pile of square pieces of paper yet to be used, and Katsusaki couldn't help but smile at that little feature.

"Sorry about that. I have a lot of sibling's," Konan laughed as she sat down on her bed. Katsu silently joined her, still staring at the blue-haired girl's art. It was beautiful; she couldn't deny that one fact.

"When did you start doing this?" Katsusaki asked, her voice very quiet. Konan smiled softly, tilting her head.

"When I was younger, I was infatuated with old Japanese culture. I had a crush on a boy with orange hair," Konan giggled, and immediately Katsu thought of Pein. "I had read up on the one-thousand cranes; how when a girl liked a boy, she would make him one-thousand cranes and string them up for him. I made him one-thousand cranes; don't get me wrong—it was hard work, and it took me a couple months to do it. By the time I was done I had so many paper cuts and my hands hurt so much."

"Isn't that a sort of marriage proposal?" Katsusaki asked, tilting her head. Konan looked over at the red headed girl, who was looking straight at her.

"Yeah." Her eye-lids fell, but her smile stayed as she stared down at her hands. Now that Katsu looked she could see the scars from previous cuts. She even had a band-aid on one of her fingers. "One crane is a wish someone may make. You fold your wish into one crane, and wait while the elements dissolve it, so your wish is released. I made one thousand wishes, and all of them were for that boy to fall in love with me."

Konan sighed, her smile growing. Her heart fluttered in her chest.

"Did your wishes come true?" Katsusaki asked, her eyes having grown wide.

"Let me finish my story first," Konan said with a laugh. She folded her hands together and looked up at her wall. When Katsu fallowed her gaze, she found she was looking at a paper crane. It was old, and the paper was yellowed and ripping, but she could see the emotion in Konan's eyes as she looked at the small paper creature.

"Sorry..." Katsu said meekly, and Konan smiled at her.

"When I gave him the cranes, he told me I was crazy. He said the same thing you did; 'Isn't this some sort of marriage proposal?' I had been so embarrassed when he shoved them back at me and said that he didn't care about a silly string of cranes."

Katsusaki frowned slightly and was ready to tell her she was sorry. But she was still smiling, and Katsu knew that her story wasn't quite done yet.

"I was ready to run off crying… but then he took my hands and asked me; 'Where did all of those cut's come from?' I told him it was from making all of the cranes, and he looked at me then. He said; 'So these are for me, too?' I thought it was funny, and I would have laughed if he didn't suddenly look so sad. He hugged me, then, and he told me 'I promise never to let anything hurt you again—especially not me.' I didn't understand what that meant at the time. I didn't realize how much love would have to be put into such a task, to make sure that I was never hurt; never upset, or angry, or in pain.

"The next day he brought me a crane. He had cut's on his hands, too, but not as many as I had. It was perfect. He was perfect at almost everything he did. I was confused at first, until I unfolded it. It was a wish.

"'I wish to never be apart from you.'"

Konan blinked, and Katsu realized she had a tear rolling down her cheek. She quickly swiped it away and smiled, but her voice was strained when she talked again.

"He promised to marry me one day, when we were old enough. He said there would never be any reason for us to be with anyone else but each other. Two promises now—two very, _very _hard promises to keep."

Katsusaki watched as Konan blinked away her tears, so filled with emotion she could hardly stop them.

"He's kept them so far, at least. And so far, I think that both of our wishes have been granted."

Konan paused, her hands folded, her head held high. Katsusaki felt jealous very suddenly. Konan was beautiful, and she had someone who promised to love her no matter what, for the rest of their forever. She couldn't help but be very happy for her, suddenly. She had a feeling that the blue haired girl deserved it; that she deserved all of it.

"Anyway," Konan grinned, "I liked making those cranes so much by the time I was finished, that I wanted to just keep making more and more. I loved every second of it, no matter how hard it is to figure out how to do it, sometimes."

Katsu smiled and couldn't help herself. She hugged Konan tightly.

"I hope that your wishes are forever," she said and Konan thanked her, quickly hugging her back.

The rest of the evening they steered clear of the tear-evoking topics.

* * *

><p><strong><em>AU: Ah, that took a while. :/ I am lead in a play I'm doing at school, so I haven't had much time to write lately._**

**_At the beginning, describing the art classroom, that is what home is to me. Writting that was effortless._**

**_Also, the ending area when Konan tell's her story, describing the paper thing and the cut's that were for Pein, that was just so... romantic, in a strange way. I really liked coming up with that. Now, please tell me what you thought!_**


	5. Chapter 5

Katsu couldn't help the smile that found her face when she stepped into her Photography class. She was slightly excited, she couldn't help it. She was still new to this school and the fact that she was getting to do something she loved every day for nine months was… nice.

She saw Itachi and Kakuzu were already sitting in the back and once again felt the same dilemma yesterday. Should she sit next to them? Would they even want her to? She decided she wanted to sit in the back row anyway, so she didn't have people staring at her back and making her itchy all over the place when they did.

She dug around in her messenger bag until she found Itachi's note-book, and when she did she turned to him and smiled a bit. He looked up at her from where he was reading a book and stopped, seeing her holding out the notebook she had taken from him for notes. He took it gently from her, slightly surprised he wouldn't have to remind her. She proved him wrong, though, and with a small smile, no less.

"Thank you for the note's, by the way. I couldn't remember if I had said thanks before or not… It doesn't matter, I guess." The thoughtful look on her face was gone a moment later, and instead she shrugged her shoulders and turned away once more, facing the front of the class room as she began to reorganize her things. Itachi heard Kakuzu snort back his laughter but ignored him and went back to his book.

Katsusaki couldn't help but marvel at how… attractive Itachi was. He was tall and broad shouldered, and his hair was undeniably long and as black as a raven's feather, and looked just as soft. His skin was pale, and looked soft, and he had long limbs and large, but somehow delicate hands. He had sharp features on his face, but the most interesting thing about his appearance must have been his intense eyes.

She hadn't missed the way the other girl's around the school looked at him in the mornings when he was walking to class, or even during their lesson's when he was simply sitting there, paying attention. She definitely didn't miss the glares she had received when the teacher announced that she was going to be Itachi's partner. They continued to shoot nasty looks while Itachi wasn't looking even today, while she was sitting quietly next to him.

She, above all else, did not miss when a girl walked up to her and put her hands saucily on her hips and glowered down at her, the two girl's behind her copying her unlikable attitude. She was tall, a brunette, with bright blue eyes. Pretty, but relatively average looking, otherwise. Well, despite the skimpy way she wore her uniform, her shirt unbuttoned a tad too much and her skirt pulled up much higher than the other girl's. Katsu was starting to realize that the uniforms were more of a way to prove the school's status, rather than to keep away segregation.

"That's my seat, you know," she scowled, flashing a sweet smile that was beyond fake. It looked like it was painted on her face; it didn't reach her narrowed eyes.

"Don't we get to choose our seats?" Katsu asked, looking genuinely confused. The two girls behind the brunette rolled their eyes in unison.

"Uh, _yeah. _And I chose this one!" She said with a fake sweetness. Katsusaki couldn't help but compare it to adding sweetener in ones bitter coffee.

"I am sitting here," she informed, a frown forming on her face. She was beginning to get annoyed. She didn't want to do anything drastic; she hadn't planned on staying long enough to have enemies, either.

"You get up, move and you won't be. Now move," she growled, jabbing Katsu hard in the shoulder.

"Outoyo will not be moving by your request, Junchiko." Both Katsu and the brunette stiffened when they heard the smooth tone's of Itachi interrupting. The brunette's blue eyes immediately snapped over in the Uchiha boy's direction. Katsu didn't look at him, though, slightly afraid that she might be imagining this.

A grin grew on the brunette's face, however, and she and the girl's behind her giggled. "Uh, r-right. Right! Sorry for bothering your reading, Itachi!" They trilled in unison, identical, silly grin's on their faces. They spun around and escaped to the other side of the room, immediately erupting in obnoxious gossip and laughter.

Katsusaki turned and smiled at Itachi. He wasn't looking at her; he had turned back to his book. She wondered if he had even ever looked up from his book to say what he wanted to.

"Thank you… again." She laughed a little at the fact that she owed him quite a lot already, and this was only her second day of knowing him. Itachi looked up at her and she stiffened when his eyes caught onto hers. He was simply so… intense. His eyes they were just… raw emotion, Katsu decided. Emotion so decided, however, that it was very hard to tell which emotion it was.

She could only decide that the way he looked now must mean 'it was my pleasure.' He didn't like that girl, Junchiko, either. He physically, however, said nothing on the topic.

"I would like to get started on our project," he said simply, his deep voice rattling Katsu to the bone. She stiffened slightly as she took a deep breath, trying to convince herself that there was no reason to be afraid of him. He wasn't a scary person; he didn't hurt anyone.

"Oh, right. Tonight?" He nodded, and she smiled, tapped he finger against her lip as she looked at the ceiling in thought. "Well, I don't know if my mother would really like if I brought people into our house—it's still a mess from our move—but I don't want to impose…" She bit her lip and forced herself to make eye contact, waiting for him to say something. When he didn't she continued. "We could always stay here after school-"

"You may come to my house," he said after a moment. Katsu was a little shocked, but she quickly smiled, feeling a little relieved. She felt almost insulted, however, with the way her worded it. Then again, he really did have to give her permission, didn't he?

"Good!" She grinned. "I even brought my camera today, too. Can I come over as soon as school has ended?" she asked, that smile still on her face.

Itachi nodded and turned back to his book. He couldn't see the words, however. He was too focused on his own thoughts. What will his father do? He had said that Itachi could bring someone home when he asked, but he had said it with that look on his face. That look that said; 'this person better not stop you from becoming the head of the Uchiha Company.'

Sasori walked in just then, lazily, and Shizune fallowed, shooting him a look as he took a seat next to Kakuzu. Katsusaki couldn't help but noticed that it was as far away from her in the back row he could get. She felt insulted. She was distracted, however, by Shizune beginning their lesson for the day.

In Astronomy she sat next to Konan and told her about what had happened in Photography. She laughed when she heard it, annoying Iruka enough to glare at her and someone behind them to shush them. The blue haired girl turned around to glare at the boy; adorned with glasses and had interestingly white hair. Katsu could only assume it was dyed.

"Her name is Chikoshi Junchiko. She is _the_ preppiest, _blondest_ brunette there has ever been in existence," Konan whispered harshly, jotting down Sirius' and Regulus' names next to their respective stars. "She is like the head of Itachi's fan-club. I always thought it was funny, but now she's picking on you for being his partner?" She scoffed in annoyance, and started drawing a crane next to her map of the sky, abandoning her on the term's that it was too hard.

"Itachi has a fan club?" Katsu wondered, tilting her head to look at Konan.

"Of course he does. Have you seen him? You're not blind, right?" Konan asked teasingly, poking her in the side with her pencil. Katsu giggled and pushed her away, and Konan laughed once realizing she was just incredibly ticklish.

"Sorry, I guess I just wasn't sure…" She gave a sheepish smile.

"It is a bit weird, isn't it? Whatever. I'm a little surprised that Itachi stood up for you, though. Well, in a figurative sense." Konan giggled a little too loudly again and the white haired boy behind them shushed her again. Konan whipped around and glared at him.

"Such your face, Kabuto!" She barked as quietly as possible. The boy smirked coolly at her.

"You should, as you put it, 'shut your face,' or you won't be able to talk to your little friend for the rest of the week." Kabuto glanced snootily at Katsu and she blinked warily, but decided against getting herself into it. Konan could easily take care of herself much better than Katsu would ever be able to. Konan grunted and turned around, but begrudgingly tried to be quieter.

"Why would you be surprised Itachi stood up for me?"

"Because he's heartless and emotionless." Katsu was surprised when Kabuto said something instead of Konan. She turned around and shot him a confused look while Konan rolled her eyes.

"What do you mean?" She asked suspiciously. She didn't really believe him; he just seemed so quiet, and she figured no one ever bothered to try and see if there was anything actually going on with him, so he never had a reason to talk.

"I mean what I said," Kabuto said, an ugly scowl on his face.

"You don't even know him," Konan said with a growl. Kabuto shrugged.

"I don't need to know him to know that he is nothing but a waste of time for all of the girl's who fall after him." As he said this, Konan got a strange grin on her face.

"What, you jealous?" Kabuto gave her an annoyed look.

"Yes, of _course _I am." He was obviously being sarcastic; it was a sharp as a knife and Konan rolled her eyes and turned around. Katsu bit her lip, contemplating, and Kabuto watched her as she did, before she turned away from him again.

Right after Algebra Katsu was making her way down to the old science wing. She found the room she had been pulled into by Konan with ease, and then down the dark stairway she went.

The secret room Itachi had found when he was a Freshman was almost completely empty, besides, ironically, Itachi himself. He looked up when Katsu walked in and she smiled at him. She didn't bother him, however, much to his confusion. He wasn't a narcissistic person, just used to girl's fawning over him everywhere he went. It was just what had happened all his life.

Well, at least until Katsusaki, who just offered him a friendly smile and took a seat at one of the desks. No nervousness, he noticed. Not unless she looked him in the eyes, and maybe that was because he realized he could seem emotionless. Did he frighten her instead?

It was blaringly obvious that, even as she pulled Zetsu's notebook from her book-bag, she was different than the people he was used to.

The next few minuets the rest of the Akatsuki filed in. Zetsu came first, and as soon as he did Katsusaki grinned and handed him his notebook, which he quickly thanked her for. She narrowed her eyes and smiled, her strange way, as if cooing over him, and he quickly joined her. She was just beginning to explain to him something she didn't understand, but Zetsu didn't understand what _she_ didn't understand.

Itachi was surprised, however, when Kisame walked in and went straight to Katsu. He wondered when that had happened. The blue haired guy grinned at Katsu and sat at her side, while Zetsu was sitting in the turned desk in front of her.

"Saki!"

Katsusaki looked up, surprised, when suddenly Tobi had launched himself at her. She cried out in surprise as they both went tumbling out of her seat and onto the ground. Tobi had practically wrapped his entire body around her, arms and legs included. Katsu lay beneath him, her eyes wide, frozen stiff from surprise and the awkwardness of the situation.

"Tobi missed you so much!" He cooed. Katsusaki gently put her hands on her shoulders, wanting very badly to glare at Kisame as he burst into laughter.

"Y-you barely know me," Katsu squeaked and Kisame bellowed louder, clutching his stomach and leaning on his desk. Was no one going to help her?

"Tobi still missed you!" Katsu winced as he yelled in her ear, but the black haired boy hardly seemed to notice. Tobi jumped off of her and clapped his hands together, laughing. "What's so funny, Kisame?" Tobi asked, putting his hands on his hips as he asked Kisame with a childish innocence.

"Yeah, what's so funny, Kisame?" Katsu bit out, glaring at him. When Tobi looked at her curiously she shot him a sheepish smile, instead. She didn't blame Tobi. She had a feeling he was… special. She decided to keep that to herself.

The last two hours of the day went by quickly, thankfully. As she was leaving her art class she wondered how exactly she was supposed to find Itachi. She wasn't expecting him to be awaiting her outside of her class room. She missed most of the jealous glares the girl's in passing were giving to her, but that might of because she was in shock.

She smiled when she managed to get herself out of it and greeted Itachi pleasantly.

"I have to pick up my brother," he announced, and Katsusaki nodded. She remembered her little brother, Hikaru telling her about him the other day and began to wonder what he looked like. She couldn't help but imagine a little version of Itachi; long black hair, same sharp tear ducts, sharp chin, narrowed, slightly weary, but pretty eyes.

As Katsu got into the car—something expensive, sleek, and black—she couldn't help but dread the difference between Itachi and Kisame. It was silent, and absolutely dreadful. Katsu couldn't think of a single topic, and Itachi didn't seem to care. She finally decided she'd prefer if it were a comfortable silence and forced herself into relaxing. They pulled up to the Konoha Academy, from pre-K to eighth grade. There were a lot of kid's waiting to be picked up, but it seemed as if they had pulled up before the buses had even gotten there, surprisingly.

Katsusaki looked around and she grinned when she noticed her brother. It didn't look like there was anyone walking directly towards Itachi's car yet, so she turned to him.

"I'll be right back, alright?" She asked.

"Hn," Itachi simply nodded, staring at her with what she figured was his form of curiosity. She jumped out of the car and sprinted over to her brother, who was once again standing with Naruto. The boy was talking about something but Hikaru wasn't listening. He had realized his sister was coming in his direction and smiled a little when he saw her.

"Hi," he said as she approached a grin on her face. Naruto was looking at her again, this time his face bright red.

"Hi, I just came to say hello. I'm going home with your friend, Sasuke's brother for-"

"WHAT!" The blond shrieked, throwing his arms in the air. Katsu winced and Hikaru shot the boy a glare and took a conspicuous step away from him. "Sasuke's brother? Why are you going to the Uchiha house?" Naruto shrieked.

"Tell the whole world, why don't you…" Hikaru muttered. He glared viciously at Naruto. "She wasn't talking to you. Stay out of other peoples conversations." It was too late. Naruto's screaming had attracted the attention of everyone around them, and Katsu's face was flushed red. She was a little annoyed. What if Itachi thought she was the kind of person to spread it around that she got to hang out with him? She didn't want to give him—or any of her other friends—that idea.

Naruto glared at Hikaru, but he had nothing to say back to him. Katsu's brother turned back to her and offered her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry," he mumbled, and Katsu simply laughed.

"Nah, it's alright, I guess. I just hope neither of them thinks that I'm only trying to be friends with them because everyone liked them." She shrugged her shoulders and offered a smile. Hikaru chuckled a little.

"Yeah."

"Anyway, as I was saying, I'm going for our Photography project."

"Good luck," Hikaru murmured. He stepped a little closer. "From what I hear from Naruto, you're going to need it. But don't tell him I actually listen to what he says," he whispered and Katsu couldn't help but laugh.

"Bye. I'll see you tonight!" she called as she turned back towards Itachi's car. She opened the passenger's door, then froze just as she was about to get in. Itachi looked up at her, expressionless as usual. "Er, should I…?" She gestured towards the back seat.

"No." It was simple. She didn't exactly understand for a second before she sighed and took the passenger's seat, her hesitation gone. This was going to be awkward.

She was looking out the window when Itachi's brother approached. He looked disgruntled, but that might have been what he always looked like. He had the same raven hair, and the same dark eyes. His hair was strange, sticking out at the back like a cockatoo's might, otherwise falling in front of his face. Like Konoha High, they had a uniform; the shorts and dress shoes, and a simple shirt.

He opened the passenger's door without looking inside and looked suddenly a bit shocked to find someone sitting there. Katsu was stiff and blushing, looking down at her hands as if she were ashamed. His eyes drifted past her to look at Itachi, curiosity on his face.

Itachi didn't say anything, but some kind of message must have been sent across. He climbed into the back seat, instead.

The drive to the Uchiha residence was very quiet and awkward for Katsusaki. Neither brother's talked, not even to each other. One time Katsu glanced back and found Sasuke looking out the window, listening to music with headphones. She immediately felt jealous and wished she had such foresight.

The Uchiha house was… well, Katsu was surprised when they started going out into the country, and even more surprised when they drove out on a private, very wooded road. Then they came to the mansion. It was gorgeous and beyond huge. The trees were beautiful here, too. There were gardens as well, but it was too late into Fall for anything to be growing.

It was a gothic place, with large, beautifully clear windows that glinted against the sun, and certain elegance about the design. Inside it was even more impeccable. The vaulted ceiling was so high, the main room so huge, it was beyond amazing. Katsu gasped as she stared, her eyes wide. Itachi glanced at her and couldn't help his thoughts. She looked cute when she was beyond amazed. He felt satisfied.

He had never really invited anyone over to his home before. He figured that was why this felt so different.

"Woah…" Katsu gaped. It was a ballroom, she realized, staring at the two way staircase that connected into one that led to the top where there were double doors which probably led to the main house. The marble flooring was shined to perfection, and as she stepped onto it, her shoes clacked. She looked down and could see her reflection.

She had an ache in her stomach at that moment, almost a need. She wanted to feel like a princess; to go to a ball and dance with a prince. She smiled sadly down at herself. She didn't think she would ever get to do something like that; it just wasn't something everyday people did, who didn't seem to own a giant company.

"Master Uchiha, welcome home-" Katsu turned around to find a young maid looking directly at her. Itachi was looking at her, too, just a hint of emotion in his intense glare. She felt intimidated enough to look away, even if it wasn't directed at her, not really. "Ah, who is this?"

"I would appreciate if you could inform my father that I will be out for the remainder of the evening," Itachi said, dodging the girl's question. She looked like she was about to ask again, then thought better of it and closed her mouth. Itachi swiftly began to lead Katsu up the stairs, and she trailed her hand on the banister as she walked. It was shiny and just as beautiful as the rest of the house.

She snapped herself out of it when they finally left the ballroom and Itachi led her down hallway after beautiful hallway until reaching what could only be his bedroom.

"I'll wait here," Katsu said.

"Hn," was all he said, disappearing into his room. Katsu sighed and looked around, adjusting her book bag. She could feel her cheap camera inside, and smiled a little. Despite the fact that it undoubtedly was cheaper than anything Itachi could buy, she loved it. They had been through so much together. She felt cheesy just thinking that, but it was true.

Itachi emerged, his hair looking freshly brushed, and wearing a different set of clothes. Katsu glanced at the camera he had, a black one that looked incredibly complicated and… professional. She smiled as he did and he only gave her a glance, and together they walked back the way they came.

Itachi led her back out to his car once more and they drove away from his house once more, much to Katsu's surprise.

"What is your address?" Itachi asked simply, looking over at Katsu. She looked surprised for a moment before quickly giving it to him. He nodded. Soon they arrived at her house and she quickly got out. Before she closed the door, though, she realized Itachi wasn't getting out. A frown on her face, she ducked back into the car.

"Do you want to come inside?"

Itachi looked hesitant, but he stood out of the car and fallowed her inside.

"Mom! I'm home!" She called as she opened the door. She could hear her brother pounding down the stairs as she set down her book bag. "I'll only be a minute," she said to Itachi, and met her brother halfway to the stairs.

"Mo! I thought you were-" He stopped, suddenly, and she knew he had seen Itachi. She offered him a smile.  
>"I am. I just have to change, first, and drop off my books." He nodded, but he wasn't saying anything. He had reverted to cool, collected and very quiet Hikaru.<p>

She was down as soon as possible, changed into a pair of skinny jeans and a baggy hoodie. She stopped in the kitchen by her mother, who was on the computer this time, her gardening gloves next to her.

"Why were you gardening?" Katsu asked, a teasing smile on her face. Her mother shot her a glance and smiled back.

"I was just potting some plants," she hummed. "So why is there a boy I don't know in my brand new, wonderful house?" Katsu couldn't help but smile.

"I'd _love _to explain to you that I have an assignment for photography, but I _do _have a boy in the house, and you know what? He drives a car," Katsu said haughtily and her mother laughed while she pranced out of the kitchen jokingly.

"Don't be too late!" She called as Katsu reached the front entrance where Itachi was still standing, his hand at his sides. He had a nice black button up coat on that was made in a British fashion with two rows of buttons. As she slid her shoes back on she called to her mother over her shoulder.

"I won't! Love you!"

"Love you, too, Mo!"

Katsu grinned as she turned back to Itachi.

"Alright, let's go."

* * *

><p><strong><em>AU: Guess who's uber late and deserves to be burned? Thats right, it's me._**

**_Sorry about that! Just... put down the pitchforks and, uh... try to enjoy it! . . Don't kill me..._**


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/U: Sorry this took so long! I didn't realize I had a chapter done, and I havn't been in the mood to write much lately. Thank you social life, for being crap. High school sucks. But I'm a teenager, so I'm supposed to think that, XD**_

* * *

><p>Katsusaki breathed out heavily, watching as her breath appeared as smoke before her and then dispersed through the air. She wasn't too distracted. Instead, her eyes wandered around the landscape Itachi had taken her to. It was… interesting.<p>

On the highway, a couple miles from the city, he had parked his car alongside the road, climbed out with his expensive camera, and started out into the woods. She was a little concerned at first before convincing herself how silly she was being.

As she followed him, she looked upwards at the trees. They towered high above her head, their spindly branches reaching towards the sky like broken, awkward fingers. The clouds seemed to make the sky much closer than it was usually, and it was suffocating. The leaves on the ground crunched with every step, telling Katsu that Itachi wasn't too far ahead, as she could still hear him.

She sighed as she shoved her hands further into her pockets and buried herself away from the cold. She had easily figured out that this was where Itachi wanted to take some of his pictures. She sort of wondered why he had brought her along; then again, they were partners, so it was technically required. But if they weren't of her, she really didn't need to be out here, shivering to death, did she?

She continued to follow him, anyway. She wanted to be friends with him. Not because he was rich or handsome, or because he had a ballroom, but because there was something about him that was more attractive than his looks. She wanted to like who he was. She just… needed to find out who he was, first.

Katsu sighed as she felt her camera in her pocket, fingering the strap they attached so you wouldn't drop it onto the ground. She loved her camera to death. But she could tell, the way she watched as Itachi was looking around carefully, that he loved taking pictures to death. It made her smile a bit, the almost loving look his usually expressionless face took, as if he were alone, just him and the thousands of pictures he could take.

Katsu was surprised when they suddenly came upon a field of flowers. She was shocked, because she wasn't used to flowers being able to grow in the Fall. They were gorgeous; white, streaked in bright pink, surrounded by the fallen leaves from the trees. They stood out harshly against the orange and yellow brush, and it was just… marvelous.

Itachi was down in an instant, his camera already turned on, and swiftly snapping picture after picture. Katsu couldn't help but marvel at how concentrated he looked as he adjusted his camera, completely focused.

Her attention was turned towards another group of flowers, ones that were bright yellow and clustered together. She kneeled before them and gently brushed her fingers over top of them. She wouldn't take a picture; she knew this already. She had other things in mind.

Itachi looked up in time to find his partner bending forwards to sniff the yellow flowers in between her fingers. He made a split decision. She didn't seem to realize when he had taken a picture of her. He stared at her as she smelled the flower carefully, her eyes closed, as if to focus all of her attention on one sense.

He had decided that he didn't mind whether or not she was in his group of friends. In a way, it was almost refreshing. She was different than the rest of them. She wasn't obnoxious, like Kisame, Tobi or Deidara, or almost completely silent like Pein, Sasori and himself, or only focused on one or two things like Hidan and Kakuzu. She wasn't like Konan, either, who was bubbly and always the center of attention (not without good reason, of course). She wasn't like the rest of them. For some, it might have been hard to see, but he could see it. He could see her difference.

He stood, then, and she turned when she saw him move out of the corner of her eye. Then she smiled. Yes, she was very different from the rest of them.

Itachi said nothing as she began towards the way they had come, once again putting her hands in her pockets. He could tell she was cold. She had come poorly dressed for the weather, but he supposed she wouldn't know whether they were staying outside or not. He figured he probably should have told her, but she didn't seem to mind.

"I wish I would have brought a scarf," she murmured and Itachi glanced at her.

"Hn." He was just going to listen, like he usually did. That was, if he thought it was worth his time to listen. Something told him that listening here wouldn't be a waste of time; at least, while he had nothing else he had to do.

"You know, I think I'm a little jealous of you," she said several long moments later, and Itachi found himself curious. Why would she just come and out and tell him she was having such an ugly feeling?

She glanced at him, a smile on her lips as usual. Her red hair was swept back by the wind, and her light green eyes almost seemed to shine like she was tearing up.

"It's the ballroom." She looked down at her feet now, watching herself walk in the leaves, kicking them out of her way. "I've never been to a dance held in a ballroom before. The elegance, and the soft music, and the dancing with…. And the dancing." Itachi let her struggle with words slip, but couldn't help but think about what that might mean. She shoved her hands deeper into her pockets and her cold finger's folded over her palms for warmth.

She sighed, her breath seeming to fall from her mouth in a cloud before drifting upwards into the air.

"You seem like you live a nice life."

"It's lonely."

Katsusaki's eyes widened and she looked over at Itachi. She hadn't really expected him to talk. It made her smile, though, when she realized that he was. Itachi… he didn't know what he was doing. He hadn't planned on joining in, just listening. Now… now he was telling her the truth. And he barely knew her.

He had stopped, though he hadn't realized it. Katsu was standing a ways in front of him, looking back at him with curiosity. He quickly began walking again and she easily kept pace. She was shorter than he was, but she was quick.

"You have your mother and your brother, who have the time to spend with you. My parents are always busy, and when they aren't, they're telling me to better myself."

It was the most Itachi had ever said to her, and it made her happy that he was talking to her. Revealing something about himself. However, she was sad because his family seemed so far apart. It was a classic situation; the rich family who never had time for one another. Still, it made her upset.

"What about your brother?" She asked smoothly, frowning slightly.

"He does not… enjoy my company." He said it like a fact, his voice monotonous. Where did all of his emotion go? Katsusaki wondered. Itachi decided then that he didn't have much else he wanted to say. Despite his release, he knew this was a strange thing for him. He didn't usually simply tell people about himself. He didn't need friends at this point, he needed connections, and some small town girl who didn't own much money to her name was not a connection.

He still felt a need to tell someone, however, how he felt about the situation's he was in every day. She was different, he had told himself. She could be told.

They were silent the rest of the walk to his car.

Katsusaki sighed as she tried to draw his face over again, but it wasn't working. She couldn't remember the exact way her had looked at her, couldn't perfect the way his intense eyes were.

She was currently in art class. Itachi hadn't talked to her during photography, and definitely not during lunch. She hadn't really expected him to, but she had been kind of hoping that he might. It seemed he had decided to keep from talking to her for the next century.

She supposed she didn't mind. Yes, she knew something about him now, something she had a feeling he didn't tell anyone else personally. The thought made her smile easily as she scrubbed out his eyes once again.

She didn't realize it, but Kaito was standing next to her desk then. She looked down at the drawing of the outline of a head, hair falling around some male's face. She couldn't help the smile that grew on her lips.

"That's very good, Ms. Outoyo," she complimented. Katsusaki looked up and smiled at her teacher, before looking down again with a disgruntled look at her paper. She couldn't help but laugh. "Are you having trouble with the eyes?"

"Yeah," Katsu scowled. She set her pencil against the paper and tried again.

"Why don't you try asking him to model for you, hm?" Kaito suggested, putting her hands on her hips. Katsu sighed as she scrubbed out a line she had made.

"I don't know if he'll let me," she said honestly, setting her head in her hand. Her pencil clattered onto her desk when she dropped it. Kaito couldn't tell whether it was on purpose or not, but she didn't pick the pencil up again after it fell.

"You can always ask, can't you?"

"Ms. Makishiko, Kimi spilled paint all over her desk again," someone behind Katsu said smoothly. She looked over her shoulder, surprised to find the red haired, brown eyed boy, Sasori standing there. He looked bored, his very feminine eyes half lidded. Katsu hadn't yet gotten over how beautiful his face was, like it was sculpted from a professional. Kaito yelped and quickly went to Kimi's desk when she saw the mess she was making.

Sasori's eyes slid down, catching Katsu's eyes. She continued to look at him, unable to help herself. He really was beautiful.

"Do I interest you, Katsusaki?" Sasori asked smoothly. His face, it stayed mostly expressionless. One perfect eyebrow arched, but his porcelain skin stayed wrinkle free. His perfectly shaped lips parted perfectly with every syllable, his heavy, long lashes framing his perfectly shaped eyes as they narrowed. He wreaked attraction; it was strange to watch the way, when she did not answer, how he elegantly stepped around her. She watched as he did, still looking her straight in the eyes. Coffee clashing with verdant until the moment he looked down at what she had been drawing.

Sasori recognized the face shape and the way the hair framed the sharp features. It was Itachi, beyond all doubt. There was a twinge in his thoughts, however, at the absolute perfection. She was a very good artist, he decided, rivaling even his own self. He wondered with only a small bit of angry jealousy how her originality was.

"This is very good," he complicated silkily, his eyes sliding back to her. She was smiling upwards at him this time and laughed.

"You are only a good artist when you know who you are, and what is wanted." She laughed, then. "At least, that's what my father always told me."

Sasori batted his eyelashes without really realizing he was as he blinked. He found he didn't exactly understand what she meant.

Swiftly, he took a seat beside her, surprising her. He put a curious look on his face, one face he wasn't exactly used to. She blinked at him, biting her lip out of habit.

"Explain what you think of art," he demanded loftily, as if he didn't really care. Katsu could see his eyes were hard, however, and almost filled with a sort of threat. She pressed her lips together carefully, thinking.

Sasori was quickly becoming impatient and she could see that. She forced herself to put words out of her mouth, so she didn't make him angry.

"I think art is everything. It can be found anywhere. There are thousands of different takes on art and what it is… you know, "art is in the eye of the beholder" and all that." She shrugged her shoulders, hoping that he wouldn't suddenly become angry with her.

She was shocked, however, when he smirked. It was an absolutely beautiful look on his face, the way his pretty eyes narrowed lazily and his lips curved upwards. She couldn't stop her heart from beating rapidly in her chest and her muscles clenching tightly and she stiffened, her eyes widening slightly. He tilted his head forwards just enough to look absolutely dangerous, completely forbidden.

Her brain stopped working and her cheek's heated underneath his gaze. He set his arm on the table and leaned closer, as if wishing to tell her a secret, or… something more intimate. She took a shaky breath in, trying to calm her racing heart.

"Art is eternal, Kat-su-sa-ki," he hummed, separating her name into four. She stuck her tongue to her bottom lip, dragging it into her mouth to bite it lightly. She watched as he said her name and couldn't stop her trembling. The world seemed to slow, and she felt suddenly very, _very _warm in her uniform. She forced herself to breath, though it was a bit quicker than it normally would be if she were calm. Instead, her heart attacked the inside of her chest.

Sasori's smirk twitched in amusement, and his eyes narrowed even more as he leaned close enough for her to smell his scent. He smelled a bit like wood and earth, and like some kind of cologne, just faintly. He could smell her, as well. Something sweet and something flowery, though he could not place names.

"Art is forever. Don't you think so, Kat-su…?" He hummed. Then he was gone.

Katsu stared in shock where he was for a long moment, before looking up jerkily. He was walking swiftly back to his seat. She stared hard at his back for a long moment, still stuck in place, stiff and then suddenly slightly annoyed. She felt very controlled all of the sudden.

She couldn't see the content smirk on his face from where she was. Even as he sat back down in his own seat, she had already turned back to his desk. He could see her bright red cheeks from across the room and couldn't help himself. She was too easy.

He supposed, it might have not been completely necessary. He could see the girl's around the room glancing at him before blushing and looking away quickly when caught. This was why he was called the puppet master, was it not? The content he had was almost evil, but he supposed he didn't really care. As long as Katsusaki was embarrassed like that, for thinking such a stupid thought. That art was anything but forever.

When the bell rang she was slow to gather her things together, and Sasori watched as she did. He wasn't going to wait for her; that was a ridiculous notion. He just watched as she was thoughtful and slow and couldn't help his pride. Yet, he was annoyed. She was like every other girl in the school—and here he thought she was different.

Katsusaki found herself outside. She had missed the bus again. Annoyance streaked across her face. Obviously, riding the bus just wasn't for her. She scowled at herself and went to go back inside to the office so she could call her mother.

She was glad she was quick enough to stop before she crashed right into Itachi. She looked up at him, surprise on her face, before grinning. Unintentionally she found herself studying his eyes, trying to find what made them so intense, so interesting.

"Oh, hi! Sorry," she apologized quickly, still smiling.

Itachi stopped. He glanced behind her shoulder (or really, over her head. She was so short in comparison) to find the buses weren't there anymore. He recalled her saying something about taking the bus the other day, but never actually catching it in time on her first day. He realized she must not have gotten out on time today, either. He thought about the decision he was about to make.

"Do you need a ride?" The question was flat, and more of a demand. Katsu stopped from where she was about to quickly walk around him, her eyes widening.

"What?" She didn't make him repeat himself, however. "Yes! That would be wonderful. You're like a hero, you know?" She laughed, then, and Itachi felt his mouth twitch. There was never an emotion there, however, when he led her to his car once again.

He remembered where her house was with ease. He drove casually, leaning easily in the comfort of his car. He glanced over once and noticed her fidgeting slightly and frowned. He felt awkward suddenly, as well, wondering what he could do to calm her down.

He pulled up to her house, into the parking lot. There was the boy with the dark hair again in the driveway, holding a basketball—the boy she had gone to talk to yesterday, and decided he must be her brother.

"Thanks for the ride, Itachi," she grinned as she gathered her things. Despite how awkward she had been before while with him in the car, she still grinned like they had talked all of the way back to her house.

It was at that moment that Itachi realized he had forgotten to pick up his younger brother. He knew he would be very, very angry. Just thinking about his brother, he smiled, just a bit.

Katsusaki stopped for a moment, before a smile spread across her face much happier than the one before.

"Bye!" She called, shutting the door and walking over to her brother. Itachi pulled from her driveway and quickly made his way towards his brother's school.

"Hey, Mo," Hikaru smiled when he saw his sister, watching the car of Sasuke's brother pull away.

"Hey. Tell mom I'm out back, ok?" She asked quickly. He nodded, curious, as she quickly ran around the side of the house.

She went straight to the little shack in the back, or the sunroom, or whatever it was that her mother thought it was. She wrenched open the door and it squealed horribly.

Inside it was a wreck, but it wasn't nearly as bad as she thought it would be. The window's were dusty and covered in grime, but not of them were broken. There was dust everywhere, and broken furniture, and the carpet was shabby and gross. Katsusaki sneezed, and the dust motes floating through the air flew across the room.

She frowned, not amused, and quickly began to plan in her mind what she wanted to do. The walls were wooden, and didn't do well the keep the cold out, but there was a fire place and a small chimney. There was enough room from what she could see; one of the windows even stuck outwards slightly like a hexagon shape, with a window seat.

With that in mind she went back into the house and straight to her mother to convince her of the funds to fix it up and use it as her own little hiding place, when she couldn't take life outside.


	7. Chapter 7

Katsusaki Mo would be honest; she was not paying attention during English. Mr. Hatake wasn't really talking about much of anything interesting, anyway. Thing's she didn't need to learn about; stuff she already guessed. She was sitting next to Kakuzu, coincidentally, and he seemed to be paying attention. So she figured she could just ask questions later if she needed to.

Instead, she was busy daydreaming about her plans for her new little hide-out; the studio she planned on making, where she could put all of her art and paint all of her pictures. She could picture it already, when the new carpeting would be down, and the walls painted, and the curtains hung from the windows. It would be amazing, she had long since decided.

She was jolted from her imagination by Kakuzu jabbing her hard in her side. She jumped and grasped her hip, shooting Kakuzu a confused look. Sure, it hurt, but it really was more annoying than anything else. He glared at her before pointedly looking at the front of the class again. Katsu sighed and looked towards the board on the front wall. She really shouldn't be dreaming about it anyway; soon, it would become something that couldn't even be created, and then she would be disappointed when it was done.

She could even remember the argument with her mother. That, even if they _were _to move again, they could always jack-up the price because of the sunroom, or the studio, however they wanted to advertise it. Something about the sentence had made her mother sad, though; she could tell by the way she frowned. Finally she said yes, despite her mood, and Katsu had cheered.

When she got jabbed in the side again she realized she was going too far once more.

History was incredibly boring, but when she walked to Photography she could feel herself getting nervous. Katsu couldn't stop thinking about what had happened in the art the other day with Sasori, especially since she barely knew him. Even if she barely knew him, there was still the way he looked. He was beautiful, one of the most attractive people in the school. So what would she do about it?

She also didn't know what she would do about Itachi. What would she say? She felt like she should say something. The memory of his smile flashed through her mind, the small, quiet smile. Instead of the strong silent type he suddenly seemed a little more… shy. She sighed and hugged the book she was carrying closer to her chest. What now?

As she stepped into the class room, she realized she was being ridiculous. Why would she even need to talk to any of them, anyway, right?

They were all sitting in the back, as usual, but the only open spot… happened to be right in between Itachi and Sasori. She wanted to smack herself in the face. She was almost tempted to sit somewhere else, but she didn't want to be called out for avoiding them. She bit her lip, hesitant. She blushed when Itachi looked up, and quickly shuffled to the only seat left. She earned several hard glares from the girl's less confident (or probably more in this case) than her as she did, but did her best to ignore them, and hoped desperately that none of them tried to confront her once again.

Sasori noted her hesitation and couldn't help the smirk that adorned his face. She was nervous, probably because of yesterday, and his ego swelled. She didn't seem to notice the lilt to his smile and kept her head down as she sat at her desk, setting her book down carefully on top of her desk.

"Katsu."

Katsusaki jumped, but it wasn't Sasori who said her name, and she was thankful for that. Instead, Itachi was trying to grab her attention. She turned to him, completely curious, and he stared at her with intense eyes. She was pretty much used to it at this point, surprisingly, but hardly noticed when she looked at him directly.

"Yeah?" She asked swiftly, a smile on her face. Itachi only blinked.

"Would you like to come over so we can finish our project?" He asked. Katsusaki grinned.

"Tonight?" He nodded slowly. "Sure! Right after school, right? Wait, are we going somewhere again? Because I could always ride the bus home, and then you could pick me up there…" she placed her finger against her bottom lip, looking at the ceiling as if it would give her an answer to her question, rather than Itachi. She looked almost comical, but he did not laugh.

Kakuzu, who was sitting on the other side of Itachi raised an eyebrow, amusement in his bright green eyes. He shifted his mask a tad before shrugging slightly to himself and turning back to his paper. He had to remind himself that they were still working on their project until the end of the week.

Katsu's eyes shot down to Itachi once again, a careful smile on her lips.

"What do you think?" She asked simply. Itachi pondered for a moment. Of course, it would be easier, but he didn't want to drive all the way to her house, then back to his. Finally, he made a decision.

"You can borrow some clothes." The statement was simple, but immediately he felt Kakuzu and Sasori staring at him. This wasn't normal behavior. Well, Itachi found he was not behaving very normally lately. It wasn't normal for him to bring someone into his house, but it was done, and mostly for the sake of a project. No, _completely_ for the sake of the project, he reminded himself, finding need for the emphasis.

Katsu looked a little shocked herself before a blush dashed over her cheeks and she began laughing nervously.

"What?" Obviously she had heard him, though, so he didn't bother saying it again. Her face cooled slightly and she sighed, though her cheeks were still pink. "I-I can't… Itachi, are you sure? I mean, I d-don't want to impose, or anything."

"Hn," was all he said back. He continued to be completely stoic, his dark eyes hard and so incredibly powerful Katsu could have sworn she almost fell off her chair. Finally, she sighed, her cheeks once again pale as always.

"Alright. Thank you." She felt a little rude for doubting him like she had, and for stuttering all over the place. Before anyone could say anything, however, Ms. Shizune called the class to attention.

In Astronomy, Katsusaki told Konan about what happened during her previous class, and how she didn't know if that was really something she should be allowing Itachi to do. Konan laughed.

"Itachi is cold on the outside, but super fluffy on the inside. At least, that's how I see it. He's under a lot of pressure from his parents to inherit the family business, and they're still not very happy about him finally convincing them to allow him into public school, so he may seem a little grumpy sometimes. The truth is that he's just stressed, I think." Konan adopted a thoughtful face.

"So he and his parents don't get along? What about his brother?"

"Well, Itachi is like a prodigy in _everything_, so his parents expect a lot. And his little brother is jealous of the attention he get's for it, and wants to surpass him. Personally, I don't think Itachi would really mind if Sasuke took the business when he gets old enough." Konan pressed her lips. "He really loves and cares for his brother, but Sasuke doesn't exactly feel the same way." She got an exited look, then. "He's the smartest person in our grade, maybe even in the school! All honor and AP classes, and he's already taking collage courses."

"Does he ever talk about what he wants to be when he graduate's collage?" Katsusaki inquired, biting her lip. Konan shook her head, shrugging slightly.

"No idea." She scribbled down an answer quickly on her paper before Mr. Umino could say something. Katsusaki fallowed her lead, as well.

"How is he with… having people over… at his house?" Katsu asked, hiding her face behind her red hair. Konan batted her eyelashes and smirked, just a little bit.

"Ah, doesn't happen often. Actually, now that I think of it, I don't think he's ever had anyone over. Why?" She feigned cluelessness, glancing over at Katsu. She stuttered something, blushing hard, and they let it go.

"What about Sasori? Can you tell me about him?" Katsu said after a short silence. Konan laughed a little too loud, earning another usual glare from Kobuto. She shot a glare back, narrowing her pretty, heavily lashed eyes. She turned back to Katsu who was laughing quietly at her.

"Well, pretty much everyone at school knows him as the 'Puppet Master,' but only behind his back." Konan shook her head. "He's really good at getting the reactions he wants from people. The girl's like him because he flirts so well." Konan giggled. "He got me the first time I met him, too, but Pein just about kicked his ass. It was so cute of him," Konan blushed just slightly, a happy look on her face. It didn't take a genius to figure out she was completely in love with her boyfriend. It made Katsu jealous.

Katsu could see a story behind all of them. There was something interesting about every single one of them, something that made them all unique. She had the urge to figure it out. In her body, she had this feeling that Itachi would be very hard to figure out—the hardest of them all. Why did he not like his parents? Was it simply because they pushed too hard, and so he pushed back? She felt like there must be more, but she could not tell what it might be.

The bell rang and with a sigh Katsusaki Mo stood and stretched her arms above her head, before grabbing her book bag and escaping with Konan's wrist in hand before she could start yelling at Kabuto.

Katsu couldn't pay attention in Algebra. Mr. Yamato seemed impeccably boring. He yammered on about something that she didn't understand, nor care about. She figured that she might have to ask someone about the lesson later.

As soon as the bell rang she was out of her seat. She didn't even wait for Mr. Yamato to stop speaking. Instead, she didn't hesitate in making her way down to the old science rooms.

Lunch was adequate. She talked with the rest of the Akatsuki normally, smiling and laughing easily. During lunch, however, she also called her mother and informed her that she would be going home with Itachi to finish up the project she had due and would be home for dinner. Her mother agreed easily, and she was set to go.

Once lunch was finished she bid Konan a good-bye, waved to the silent Pein who watched her as she did. She exited casually.

Just as she reached the door, however, Zetsu caught up to her, smiling lightly. She smiled back simply and they walked to class as they had the day before.

When it came time for Drawing and Painting, however, Katsusaki found herself hesitating. Her mind flashed back to the day before once again and she became nervous. What was on the alleged 'Puppet Master's' mind this time? As she entered the room, she ducked her head and shuffled quickly to her seat.

Sasori smirked as he watched her enter, hiding behind her long red hair and almost tripping over her own feet. She was doing her very best to avoid him today, wasn't she? He couldn't help but feel total amusement in her antics. Even during lunch she had refused to look at him, measuring her actions as carefully as possible so as to not have to cross his path.

It was a strange, predator-like feeling he had when he realized he had her trapped and waiting in anticipation for his next move. Her reactions were completely up to him, and his found that…

Inherently disappointing.

Sasori's face became blank, clear of emotion. He had thought that she would react differently, that she would be something new and improved compared to the other girls, who were obsessive and excessively boring.

As well as disappointed, Sasori was confused. He didn't understand exactly why he was so disappointed that this meaningless girl happened to be just like all of the rest. That was, until she pulled the picture she had been steadily working on the last two days was pulled out of her portfolio. A picture of Itachi, one that was almost perfect, one that rivaled even his own brilliance. She had drawn his eyes in finally, and stared from across the room, intense and defiantly so.

That was why. She was different because she had not begged his opinion on art before telling him her own, and simply feigning that they thought the same thing. She wasn't trying to impress him with her giggles or her thoughts. And she wasn't afraid to draw Itachi so perfectly, even though someone could see it and report that information back to him, thus embarrassing her and ruining her for the rest of her stay at Konoha High.

Katsusaki Mo was not out to impress, and Sasori found that impressive.

* * *

><p>Katsusaki glared heatedly at the road in front of her. She had managed to miss the bus. <em>Again.<em>

It was finally Friday, the last day of her first week at school, and she had been almost positive that she would finally catch the bus this one time. Still, she missed it, and still, she was standing awkwardly, alone, in front of Konoha High School.

"This is getting really old," Katsu grumbled, bowing her head.

"Miss the bus again, Katsu?"

Katsu spun around, gasping, coming face-to-chest with none other than Kisame, who laughed obnoxiously as she revealed her fright. She stood frozen for a few seconds, trying to grasp her surroundings and calm herself down before, finally, her heart slowed to a steady beat.

"Kisame! You scared me," Katsu announced.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Kisame laughed. He rested a hand on her shoulder, still grinning uncontrollably. Like a shark, Katsu realized.

Katsu glared at him as her cheeks turned bright pink.

"I figured you would. You know, if you keep this up, I might start to think you're doing it on purpose!" He laughed. Kisame spun her around and began to lead her towards the parking lot. Katsu grumbled to herself about how she really needed to get a cell-phone.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." She sighed.

"Hey, you know what? Since its Friday, Hidan is having a party at his house. You're part of the group now; you should come along!" Kisame bellowed.

Katsu frowned. She had been planning on working on her new art studio all weekend—then again, she _did _have all weekend to do whatever it was that she wanted with it. Hanging out at a friend's house for a few short hours with all of her new group wouldn't be too bad. Then again, it meant that she still had to get home and change out of her uniform, and then get a ride there.

Katsusaki sighed and shrugged. Kisame cheered, but she doubted that he thought she would say no, and if she did, she was sure he would have begged until she changed her mind.

"You know, you kind of live near Hidan's house, anyway. Do you mind if we stop at my house, first?" Kisame asked, turning the key in his trucks ignition, said truck roaring to life. It grumbled as Kisame pulled out of the parking lot at speeds that were much too dangerous for Katsu to feel comfortable. She was distracted as she clutched at the leather seat underneath her.

"N-no, I don't mind," she coughed, quickly buckling her seat belt. "Do you have a phone I could use so I could explain to my mother why I'm late?" Katsusaki realized that her tone was rather bitter. God, she wanted a cell-phone.

"Great!" Kisame laughed.

They barreled down the streets, driving relatively safely compared to the other people caught in the Friday excitement that always seemed to make people vague. For a while Katsu wasn't paying much attention, simply listening to Obsessive Derangement and watching as Kisame talked dramatically about Hidan and his parties, that of which she wasn't really listening about. Eventually, she noticed that they were going into the poorer part of town and frowned as they pulled up to an apartment building.

Kisame parked and quickly got out.

"You can come inside if you want! But I'm going to be pretty quick," he laughed. Katsu quickly got out and fallowed him inside.

The apartment building wasn't so bad. Katsu had definitely lived in worse before, when her mother wasn't so well off. Katsu remembered shady hallways with water stains and the sounds of gun-shots.

Kisame's apartment number was 105.

Inside it was cleanly and pretty. There were vases with flowers in them and a small fish bowl with a gold-fish winding its way around and around. Kisame dropped a pinch of fish flakes in the bowl as he walked by and made his way to his room, leaving the door open as he presumably changing.

Katsusaki Mo gazed curiously at the photographs that were placed precariously on the table's, at the floral pattern love-seat, the 'There's No Place like Home' sign above the kitchen sink. Somehow, she never imagined Kisame living in a place like this.

"It's just me and my mother here," Kisame called from his room. Katsu frowned a little as she picked up a photo of Kisame as a little kid, his hair wild and unkempt, and in the arms of a man who looked almost exactly like him. "We get along just fine, so no need to worry about us."

Katsu set the photo down and stepped away, afraid to be found staring at his past without his permission.

He came out of his room, a grin on his face, and nodded towards the door.

"You ready to go?"

Katsusaki nodded and turned, a sigh on her lips. She smiled just a bit at Kisame and shrugged, before turning and walking out the door. Kisame watched her go, his grin falling away to a frown. He glanced back at the photograph that she had undoubtedly picked up.

With a small sigh he followed her out the door.

* * *

><p><strong><em>AU: Yeah, it's been a while. I just finished school. Yay, summer-time! Sorry it took so long-wait, nevermind. Most of my readers are probably gone by now. T.T I'm sorry! If you came back, thank you. This one is a little short but I found it and I was a bit rushed to publish it because it took so long. :/_**


	8. Chapter 8

Katsusaki's mother was sitting at the kitchen counter, book opened in front of her and spaghetti dinner balanced expertly on her lap when she walked in with Kisame. Hikaru was nowhere to be seen as far as Mo could tell and she wasn't quite disappointed.

"Hey, Katsu. One moment, please…" Takara hummed, and then looked up over her reading glasses. She offered a smile to Kisame who was undoubtedly towering above everything in the kitchen right behind Katsu. "Hello. I'm Mo's mother."

"Mom, this is Kisame. He gave me a ride home the first time I missed the bus." Katsu shrugged half-heartedly and her mother laughed.

"Well, thank you for rescuing my daughter." Takara's eyes hardened in an unusual way and Katsu decided to make this quick.

"I'm going to change." She turned to Kisame, offering an apologetic smile. He looked awkward and uncomfortable in her bright, sunny kitchen. His hair, defying gravity, seemed close to brushing the ceiling and with a wince Katsusaki realized he would have had to duck to enter the kitchen, in the first place. "Three seconds," she exaggerated.

Swiftly she spun around and made her way to the stairs. In record time she had gone to her room, halfheartedly shut the door and struggled out of her shirt. Her blouse managed to tangle its way around her head, her arms sticking straight upwards, and in a wild disarray she tripped over her feet as she rushed to slip her feet out of her shoes. She slammed to the floor, and could only imagine the strange looks her mother was receiving at this moment as Kisame was letting his imagination run wild.

Once she was finally free from the trap she managed to set and get herself caught in, all without trying, she jumped out of her skirt and yanked open her drawers. Then she promptly realized that she had no idea what she was supposed to wear to a high school party.

Katsusaki winced. She had never been close enough to anyone to be invited to a party. She had spent too much time moving around, and finally when she was close enough to even a single person to be invited to even the most impersonal party she moved. She had never done the whole mingling thing—and what if there was dancing? She didn't know party etiquette in the slightest. What she knew, she got from parties on television shows.

Katsu sighed and simply grabbed a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. She didn't want to go too far and end up being the laughing stock of the group. Besides, it was simply supposed to be a party between her and the rest of the Akatsuki. It wasn't like there was going to be other girls there to compare her outfit to, besides Konan.

She grabbed her sneakers and quickly made her way out the door and down the stairs, leaving her clothing lying haphazardly on her floor.

"I trust you'll take care of her, Kisame."

Katsusaki stopped short, her eyes widening. That was her mother, obviously. Talking to Kisame about Katsu?

"Yes, ma'am."

"Hey!" Katsu skipped out of her hiding place, her eyes wide and curious while she struggled to disguise her confusion with a smile. "Let's go." She was painfully aware of Kisame giving her a once over, but struggled to ignore it to the best of her ability. "Bye, mom. Love you!" She called as she dragged the boy that was twice her size out the door, face slightly heated from the realization that Kisame was talking to her mother about her while she was gone.

Still… something inside of her felt especially uneasy about the evening ahead of her.

"Ugh, shoot."

Katsu looked up, her eyes getting a little wider as she gazed at Kisame. She had been thinking rather intently about the homework she had to turn in on Monday. When Kisame spoke he shook her out of her thoughts swiftly enough that he scared her.

"What?" She questioned, very curious. Kisame glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, frowning. It was a ridiculous look on his face; every time she saw it she couldn't help but be unnerved.

"I need to stop at Sasori's house. I left my phone there yesterday and I just remembered now." He sighed. "You don't mind, do you?"

Katsu's eyes widened and she looked up at Kisame, before giving him an awkward smile.

"Y-yeah—er, I mean, no! No, of course not!" She yelped, laughing with too much effort. Kisame gave her a confused look before slowly saying 'okay,' and turning back to his driving. She winced. Of _course _she minded! She didn't want to go to freaking Sasori's house, of all places. She just wanted to get over to Hidan's house and be done with it.

She sighed and pressed her forehead to the window. She watched the suburbs pass her by as they made their way through them. She noticed that they were still in the general area when they pulled up to a quaint two story house, painted white, with a pleasant looking garden in the front that surrounded the pathway.

Seeing the house made something itch in the back of her mind, as if she had forgotten something. She sniffed slightly and wound her fingers together, irritated. She glanced over at Kisame as he opened his door and she wondered, vaguely, if he would notice if she just waited in the truck. That way she wouldn't have to run into that terrible boy.

However, as he was halfway up the walk, he turned around and raised an eyebrow at her and gestured with his hand, as if to say 'what are you waiting for?' She sighed and opened the door slowly, taking her time to climb out. The dread finally seemed to settle into her uneasy stomach and she swallowed a dry lump that had grown in her throat. With a deep breath, she began shuffling up the driveway at speeds that rivaled even a snail.

Kisame glanced back once he reached the door and couldn't help himself—he burst out laughing. She was the most ridiculous person he had ever met. Katsusaki was beyond silly, and he loved every second of it.

"Would you knock it off? This racket is giving me a headache."

Katsusaki clenched her fists and immediately looked down at her feet. She stopped walking and seriously considered turning around and marching right back to the truck. Sasori must have heard Kisame laughing and wondered what was taking so long.

Which was exactly what happened. Sasori hated waiting—it was his one biggest pet peeve, and he was only annoyed when Kisame walked right up to his door and continued to make him wait. Of course, he was a bit confused when he heard him laughing and wondered what on earth it could be that amused him so much it made him stop in his place.

Then again, if he were not himself, Sasori concluded that he would probably be laughing at Katsusaki's stupidity, as well. She was shuffling along the walkway as if she absolutely dreaded going inside of Sasori's house. A sadistic kind of pleasure filled him at the thought. She feared him. How… irresistibly pleasant.

Without once cracking an inkling of a smile he turned and gestured them inside as if he didn't even give a small ounce of care. Kisame stepped easily inside, but Katsu continued to stand on the pathway, her eyes wide. Now was her chance! She could turn and make a run for it, and no one would notice until Kisame came back out to drive away. She gave the open door a look. It wasn't good for her to leave it hanging open like that, though. She just didn't like Sasori—it wasn't like she wished anything against his parents. What if bug's got in?

Then again, it was Kisame's fault for leaving the door open. She couldn't possibly be blamed, could she?

However, she had hesitated for too long. Sasori stepped back out the door, raising his thin, perfectly sculpted eyebrows at her. She stared at him, like a deer caught in head lights, and he couldn't help the small quirk of the corner of his mouth. She was devastatingly amusing.

"I don't like to be kept waiting," Sasori hummed, crossing his arms over his chest. Katsu clenched her fists, feeling her ragged nails sharp against her skin. She looked away from his painfully beautiful eyes, feeling the blush rising on her cheeks and finally, made her way up the steps of his porch. He stepped to the side, and his eyes followed her as she was forced to make her way past him to go into his house, their close proximity making her cheeks even warmer.

His house smelled like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

That was the first thing Katsu noticed. The second thing she noticed was how neat and in order everything was. The house was in wonderful shape; everything had a place and was in the place it belonged. To the right was his living room, neat and tidy, magazines placed nicely in a magazine rack, the floor freshly vacuumed, even the couch pillows in the exact place they were supposed to be. Straight in front of her was the doorway to the kitchen, where there wasn't even a coffee ring on the counter, a single speck of dirt on the floor, and then just slightly ahead and to the left was a stairway.

Sasori closed the door behind him and couldn't help smirking as he saw Katsu wince, as if she had just been trapped in a dungeon full of deadly scorpions. She took a precautionary step away from him as he passed her, even though she looked immensely uncomfortable going further into his home.

Kisame had already gone up to his room to go and get his cell phone. The idiot had left it at his house when he came to visit and then totally forgot about it. Sasori even had to mention it to him again before he finally remembered. When the boy finally stomped down the steps into the entry way, phone in hand, Sasori gave him an annoyed look, the smirk previously on his face gone for the moment.

"Is that all?" Sasori asked, raising an eyebrow at the boy.

"Yeah, I guess." Kisame then adapted a thoughtful look on his face, a grin appearing over his lips, ever familiar. Katsu got a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. "When are you leaving for Hidan's? I can always give you a ride. Besides, I don't know who else is there yet and I'll need help protecting Katsu from him." He laughed, giving Katsu a meaningful look. "Her mom said I have to keep an eye on her, but I can't guarantee I won't be distracted."

Katsu's eyes widened and she shot Kisame a glare.

"I don't need to be babysat!" She yelped, crossing her arms in an indignant huff. The two boys ignored her, however.

"I'm not going to babysit your girlfriend for you," Sasori scowled, pushing past Kisame into his kitchen. Katsu's face turned red, however, straying from the usual, it was from anger, instead.

"I just said-"

"Come _on, _Sasori!" Kisame interrupted, his voice booming. Sasori winced and shot him a glare, that of which the taller boy blatantly ignored. "You can't leave me alone in that house with him and just Katsu. He's sneaky when he wants to be. You know what he does to girls."

As Sasori was reaching up to the cupboard he felt a strange twinge in his stomach, a sense of uneasiness. The thought of Hidan convincing Katsu—no, _any _girl to sleep with him was utterly disgusting. That boy probably had herpes ten times over.

"Fine," he spat. "You can stay here until I leave." He rolled his eyes, filling his cup with water and taking a sip out of it.

"Thank's, Sasori."

Katsu stood awkwardly in the entrée way, steaming, when she realized something—Kisame had just made it so that she had to stay in Sasori's house for even longer than was necessary. A look of horror crossed her face as Sasori made his way into the living room. He caught a glance at her face and the smirk reappeared. He suddenly had a feeling his decision wasn't so horrible.

"Are you just going to stand there this whole time?" Kisame asked with a laugh as he passed her. She sighed, dropping her hands to her side and finally followed both of them into the living room, where Sasori flicked on the television and threw the remote at Kisame.

"Do whatever you want. I'll be in my room." Sasori turned abruptly and walked away. Katsu watched him go, eyes wide, before turning to look at Kisame. She missed Sasori turned at the last moment himself to glance at Katsusaki and let his smirk lilt upwards even more. She was much too curious a person.

As soon as he was gone, Katsu looked around, panicked as Kisame flipped through the channels, relaxing on the neatly settled couch, messing up the perfectly placed pillows.

"He's just going to—go to his room?" She asked, horrified. Kisame looked up at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Did you think he was the hosting type?" He laughed, looking back at the television. "You are a really strange girl, Katsu." Said strange girl turned and stared after Sasori, wringing her hands.

"But—we're in his house." She mumbled, confused and distraught. Kisame only laughed again and she sighed and sat down next to him.

But she itched to explore. She didn't focus on the television and the ever changing channels and Kisame flipped through them. She wanted to go and see what else there was in the house, where the secrets were, if there were any.

When she heard the shower running only ten minuet's later she realized she had her chance. Kisame was too deeply immersed in some Discovery Channel show. She slowly stood, hoping he wouldn't notice her as she crept out of the room. He didn't even shift.

Katsu looked up the stairs curious, and after determining whether or not they were creaky enough to cause her any kind of danger, she finally took the first cautious step. She wasn't so surprised to find that her climb was silent. The house was too incredibly perfect.

The upstairs was a hallway lined by doors. At the end, she determined, was the bathroom. The door was closed and she could hear the water running behind it. She realized that she was being intrusive as she glanced into the first room on the right. It was a larger bedroom, and she assumed that this was his parent's room. It wasn't disrupted in any way.

To her right was a small office-space. There was a book shelf inside, lined with books on psychology. She raised her eyebrow to notice that there wasn't a single thing inside that seemed to be for pleasure—not a photograph, not even a freaking paper weight.

She stepped away from the two adjacent doors and made her way slowly down the hallway. She listened carefully to the running water, the only sign that Sasori was still in the bathroom, and stepped swiftly into the last door on the left.

It was obviously Sasori's room. It was just like the rest of the house—neat and tidy, not a thing out of place. His single bed was pushed against the far wall, a desk in the corner, a dresser on the opposite wall. There was a single difference—small wooden figurines. I was a peculiar thing. On top of his desk, his dresser, his bed-side table; all were littered with small sculptures, tiny wooden dolls.

Katsu glanced at the bathroom door and took a deep, silent breath. She figured she had at least three minuets before he came back out. She could waste a couple seconds for a quick look.

She stepped inside, her eyes wide with curiosity. She walked slowly over to his desk, which was closest to his door. As she stepped closer, she came to a sudden realization—they were of the Akatsuki. Her eyes widened even more, if that was possible; they were perfect.

She stared at one that was obviously of Kisame. Down to the laugh lines he had somehow managed to achieve despite how young he was. She picked it up and looked at it even closer. Something inside if her ached—she wished that she had such incredible skill. She could hardly describe how beautiful they were.

Setting it back down, she made her way across the room, to his dresser. There was one of a boy she didn't recognize and she frowned a small bit. Suddenly, it clicked when she rolled it over on her palm. It was that boy that she had seen with Sasori on her first day. She wondered why she had never really thought about the boy before now. She wondered who he was, and if he was close friends with Sasori.

Katsu turned, and she looked at his bed-side table. There weren't quite as many here, and most of them were half-done. A small carving tool was set beside them all. She tilted her head to the side and set the character of the boy she didn't know down beside them. Curious, she picked one of the unfinished ones up. It wasn't human—that was for sure; but it was very much like human. She tilted it slightly to the side, gazing at it curiously.

Suddenly, the water snapped off.

Katsu's eyes widened and she jumped, letting out a small squeak. She slapped a hand over her mouth, dropping the figurine. Time seemed to slow as her heart sped up. She tensed as she watched the figure fall, helpless to do anything, a horrible feeling in her stomach. It hit the floor hard enough for its thin neck to snap and it's head to go skidding underneath Sasori's bed.

She stood frozen for several horrible seconds, the whole entire world still alongside her, before she leapt into action. She scooped up the long-haired sculpture of a boy, skidding across the room to his desk, slamming the doll down beside Kisame just time to realize that it had been on his dresser, but it took long enough for her not to care.

She practically jumped across the room, but she hadn't been fast enough. Before she could make her way into the hall, she came face-to-face with a bare chest that could only belong to Sasori.

Katsusaki froze for a second time, her face turning bright red. Slowly, she looked upwards, and when she caught sight of his nose—his perfectly sculpted nose—and how close to her face it was, she realized just how little space they had between them. Her face turned bright red and she stiffened, unable to compose any sort of decent thought.

Katsusaki couldn't help but soak it all in. His hair was still damp and hanging limply around his face. She noticed his gorgeous eyes narrowed in annoyance, his high cheek bones, and yet his lips were quirked just slightly in a dangerous smirk. She swallowed hard, her cheeks heating even more, if it were possible.

"Sasori!" She yelped, suddenly jerking backwards and looking down. She brought her hands forwards and clasped them together, wringing her fingers nervously. "I-I—what are you doing here?" She laughed awkwardly.

"It's my room," Sasori said obviously, pushing past her. Katsu practically hit herself. She turned her head, unable to take her eyes off of him. Even if he was terrifying and evil, she couldn't help but admit that he was beautiful. He was wearing pants, but lacking any sort of shirt. She could feel her blush spreading to her ears. Her heart rate sped up even more and she was sure it was about to leap right up her throat and choke her to death.

"Y-yeah, r-right," she choked.

Sasori was extremely amused by her stumbling words. He glanced over his shoulder, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. She was looking down at her feet, her cheeks bright pink, her hands wound together tightly. He watched her just long enough to see her tilt her head away, hiding behind her hair. He looked away when his own heart gave a little jolt—of annoyance, he was sure. Wouldn't she just get out of his room?

He pulled a blood red shirt from his dresser and pulled it over his head. He shook out his hair, almost the same red as his shirt, and dragged a black button down from his closet. He turned and slid his arms through it, watching her. She seemed nervous.

His smirk could only grow.

"As soon as you're done standing there like an idiot, we can go," Sasori said harshly. Katsu snapped out of her embarrassment, her thoughts, previously on how much of an idiot she was, now solely on how much of a jerk Sasori was. Her head snapped up, her mouth opening to tell him as such, but he was already out the door. She could hear him making his way down the hall to the stairs. "Hurry up! I don't like to be kept waiting!" He called back to her.

Katsu's eyes were wide as she stood there, her mouthing opening and closing like a drowning fish. She was stunned.

"Wh-what?"

* * *

><p><strong><em>AU: I really appreciate all the reviews I got! :O I was so excited when I saw all of them-special appreciation to a certain someone who gave a _very _detailed review. I tried to spell 'followed' correctly this time. XD_**

**_Also, one more thing that I am ashamed to admit... _**I don't remember what Katsu looks like**._ :x I know, right? T.T If someone can review or send me a message or something if I said what she looks like, I would be deeply appreciative. I think I remember saying something about her having red hair and green eyes... I'd love to skim through the whole story again, but every time I do I just don't want to write any more. Yeah, yeah, I know I should, and I probably will eventually to make sure that I have everything straight and to make sure the story flows. But until then, I need help! D:_**


	9. Chapter 9

Deidara was sure of several very important things.

The first of those things was that he was in a very big crowd of people, bustling about, laughing and shouting and some people screaming along to the lyrics of the music that's only real purpose was to provide a beat. Some people were grinding against each other distastefully, and over there on the couch several couples sat, wound together and having a face-sucking competition to see who could completely remove their significant other's features first.

The second was that he had been 'out of commission' for several days now, and he had failed to flirt with a single hot in girl in all of that time. Everything around him that happened to be wearing a skirt looked unbelievably seductive.

The third happened to be that he couldn't find the one person he was looking for in the ridiculously enormous crowd of grinding teenagers.

As he turned, the drink in his hand sloshing over the side and soaking his fingers, and the crowd parted momentarily just because that was the way it happened sometimes, he was sure of one more thing. God had opened up the heaven's and had the extreme misfortune of letting a single angel fall from the sky, thus gracing the entire room of her undeniable presence for a solitary moment in time.

Deidara's eyes widened and a grin stretched across his face as the crowd closed once more.

Desperately he shoved his way through the people. Some complained, but he didn't really care all that much. It was blind running, but when he finally broke through the other side, there she was again. Her eyes were downcast, and she was hiding behind her slightly curly hair, pressed up against the wall.

As Deidara approached, however, she looked up and he almost died. Her eyes were the color of the ocean on a stormy day, and they looked painfully uneasy as he approached, like a wild animal that didn't wish to be trapped.

He leaned in, a pained smile on his own face.

"You, my sweet, are gorgeous, un."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Several Hours Earlier…<strong>_

Katsusaki Mo sighed in annoyance. Kisame just wouldn't stop laughing at her.

When she had finally managed to gather herself and run downstairs after Sasori, the red haired demon was already out the door and making his way to his car. She grumbled to herself and glanced at Kisame, who's eyes were wide. She could just see his mind working, putting together the pieces, and clearly coming up with an incorrect solution.

"Don't say a word," she squeaked, her face still red. A grin slowly grew on Kisame's face, but he didn't say anything, thanks to the glare that was still fixed in Katsusaki's eyes. She stomped out the door after Sasori, very angry.

She jumped into Kisame's truck, having a little difficulty due to how short she was. Sasori, who couldn't get out of his driveway until Kisame backed out, watched her through his rear-view mirror, smirked at her idiocy. She sat with a huff in the hub of Kisame's truck, her arms crossed, her nose scrunched up and turned into the air so that she didn't have to look at him.

Kisame only laughed as he got into the drivers-side. Sure, he laughed all of the time, but there were very few people that made him as mirthful as Katsu did. He knew of course that she wouldn't do anything to Sasori—she was too innocent, too pure. Sasori, however…

Kisame wasn't stupid—he saw the way Sasori teased her. The boy was so simply transparent in the smallest of ways. Of course, he wasn't dumb enough to believe that he had any sort of heartfelt feelings towards her; mostly curiosity. And why not? As far as he'd seen, she was the curiosity of the entire Akatsuki club. They all just approached their inquisitive differently.

Konan was impeccably straight forward. She had stepped up and immediately asked questions, as she always did. She was the first to really notice Katsu, as far as Kisame knew, and the first to really drag them into their group.

Kakuzu watched from the shadows, as was his personality. He didn't really throw himself into any situation, and when he did he was often hostile about it. Thankfully, Katsu wasn't deemed some sort of threat to him and he didn't really threaten her in any way.

Sasori flirted and manipulated, watched and learned and used his knowledge to squeeze every last tiny bit of need-to-know from her blushing face until he would, eventually, get bored. So far he was doing well not to make himself tired of her.

Zetsu was calm and quiet, talking to her sometimes in his shy little ways, walking her to her class and such things. Sometimes placing himself next to her during lunch when he was feeling a little more confident.

Kisame knew he was just as obvious as Konan. He wasn't trying to weasel his way into anyone's life; he just had a natural ability to connect with others.

Then there was Itachi, who Kisame hadn't failed to notice had taken a special interest in Katsusaki Mo. He never really took an interest in the other people that several members of the group brought in. None of them had gotten along with everyone, especially not Itachi. They were too put off by his quietness or jealous of (or attracted to) his good looks, both things that he always found annoying. But not Katsusaki. She noticed him, but Kisame could tell it was in a different way. She noticed him because of his art.

Kisame couldn't help a small smile on his face as he gave her a sideways glance. Maybe that was why she had eyes for Sasori. If that red haired scorpion of a boy wasn't in any art classes she might not have even given him a second glance. It was a curious revelation.

However, he knew that Kakuzu was in a photography class with them, as well, but there was no connection between them. He wondered what the difference was; maybe it was the fact that Kakuzu had no passion for the art. Sure, Itachi never really showed major interest on the outside, but Kisame was his best friend. He knew how much it mattered to him, sometimes. He could write movie's that would make a head spin; it was his calling. However, his family was calling him, as well.

Kisame frowned, deep in his thoughts, and Katsu looked up at him for a moment. She frowned, as well. She just couldn't get over how ridiculous he looked when he wasn't smiling. She turned away, looking out the window, listening to music interest that they shared. He was being thoughtful, and so was she.

She was thinking about the party, however. She wondered what it would be like. She was excited, of course; she had never been to a party before. Katsusaki didn't know what to expect.

It was already getting pretty late, thanks to their multiple stops and waiting and driving. They were driving back the way they came, towards Katsusaki's house. She recalled him saying something about Hidan living pretty close to her house.

When they pulled up to where she assumed he lived, she stiffened.

It was a lot different from what she expected.

The house was thundering with music that almost had no lyrics; all bass. Lights flashed behind the windows. Kisame was quick to get out of the truck, not bothering to notice Katsusaki's hesitance. She watched him, her eyes wide, head flicking back and forth, before she finally turned and jerkily hopped out of the truck, as well. She looked around, slowing slightly to look at the people that were lingering in the yard, dropping and holding red cups varying in fullness and dancing to the music.

"Come-on, Katsu!" Saki's head jerked in Kisame's direction, her eyes wide. He was already making his way up the walk, towards the house. Behind her, she could hear Sasori parking on the side of the road, as well. She glanced once over her shoulder. "Let's go!" She jumped, spun around, and ran after him.

She grabbed on to the back of his shirt as they entered the house. Kisame glanced over his shoulder and laughed. Katsu was surprised she could hear him over the music. She looked around her; the house was completely packed full of people. Students that she vaguely recognized from Konoha High School.

Katsusaki didn't miss the eyes that followed her. She knew the obvious; they were watching for Kisame, one of the tallest boy's in the whole school—maybe the tallest, due to his hair. Because she was right behind him, naturally they were looking at her, too.

She was unaware, however, of the fact that she was the talk of the school. The new kid, adopted by the Akatsuki, and a little too loved. There were mean rumors, of course; that she was 'boning' the whole club, whoring around and that's why they kept her around. That she was blackmailing all of them for popularity. That she was using them. She was blissfully ignorant.

Some people, however, were not. The rest of the Akatsuki, for example. They heard the rumors, and they weren't afraid to protect one of their own. Kisame shot someone a glare that was eyeing up Katsusaki with a scowl on their face. They glanced up at him, and, intimidated, quickly turned away.

Behind them, Katsu could hear several girls squealing in unison. She turned to see them converging around Sasori as he came through the door. Behind him, several more girl's were following him, eyes wide and bright smiles on their faces. He looked utterly bored.

His brown eyes flickered upwards and connected with Katsu's. She could feel her heart pounding away in her chest. The smirk that appeared on his face made her feel like some sort of prey, like he was hunting her and on her tail.

Sasori himself felt his heart jump a small bit. The thrill of the chase, he assured himself. She was his puppet, a new play-thing, and to see her eyes widening like some kind of scared doe was interesting. She was turning out to be much more fun than he had initially anticipated. She looked away first, quickly turning away with a blush on her face, undoubtedly thinking about their encounter earlier that evening. He felt a tad bit uneasy.

Sasori looked around him at the girl's that decided surrounding him. He hated crowds like this. Of course, he didn't miss the glances that they shot at Katsusaki, eyes following his. Some scowled. His smirk vanished and that disgusted feeling grew. They were assuming only the worst of her—and him—and it was annoying. He wasn't really one for pride or protection over his friends, but this was important to him. The whole Konoha High had gone on assuming that they were so easily manipulated.

Sasori Akasuna was _not_ easy to manipulate.

Kisame was leading Katsusaki through the house, yelling things to her over the music in vain; she couldn't understand a single thing that he was saying. She looked up at him, desperately trying to read his lips, but it was no use. He looked away from her, grinning as if nothing was wrong, gazing over the crowd of teenagers.

Katsu jumped as she felt something brush against her backside and spun around. The offender disappeared into the crowd before she could see who it was. She shivered, feeling violated, and tugged on Kisame's shirt. He looked back at her, amused by her childish actions, and she pointed towards what she assumed was the kitchen.

He said something about a drink, and in desperation to get to someplace less crowded she simply nodded. Kisame pulled her towards the kitchen. It wasn't a great deal quieter; hardly at all. But there were less people; the back door was wide open, and it looked like people had swarmed out there to be around the pool.

Kisame went into the refrigerator and pulled out, of all things, a beer can. Katsu's eyes bugged as he held it out to her, before he blinked and then blushed a little bit. He yelled something to her as he retracted his hand, and he looked apologetic. He turned to look through the fridge again, but apparently didn't find anything. He turned back to her and shrugged, ran his hand through his hair, and said something else that she didn't hear. It sounded like;

"Stoop hidden!" She blinked up at him, before she realized he had said; "Stupid Hidan." She offered him a half-hearted smile. She realized at that moment that this wasn't the party she had expected at all, but she should have. The Akatsuki had to have a reputation for a reason. She felt the urge to ask Kisame to take her home; but he had gone through all of the trouble to get her here. She didn't want to ruin his fun.

He yelled something else, and Katsu struggled to keep her frown off of her face. She didn't want to ruin his fun. She glanced at the door; she could give him the slip so he'd go find his other friends. Then she could just hide in his truck until he was ready to leave.

She stood on her tip-toes and reached up her head; he dipped his own so she could talk into his ear.

"I'm going to the bathroom!" She said to him. He nodded and pointed through the living room, to a flight of stairs. She nodded and quickly slipped past him, back into the living room and into the bouncing throng of sweaty bodies.

She glanced behind her once to check and see if he was still watching, but he turned around and was talking animatedly to Hidan, who was holding a whole bottle of liquor in his hand and swaying unsteadily. He laughed loudly, throwing back his head, and they were out the back door to do who knows what.

Katsu turned around once they vanished, quickly pushing her way to the door. Now free of Kisame, she was less noticeable, but those who _did _notice her and were just sober enough to care gave her hard glares, watching as she walked. Thankfully, but less fortunately, most of the people were wasted.

Katsusaki slipped out the front door that someone seemed to have forgotten to close and across the yard, making a bee-line for Kisame's truck. She reached it with no unlucky encounters, thankfully. She grabbed the handle and pulled hard, desperate to be away from the cheering of drunken idiots and a mistake that she wished she had never made.

* * *

><p>Deidara cheered as some guy he barely knew chugged down as much alcoholic liquid as possible, upside down, from the keg that several of his buddies held up for him. He was plenty aware of the chanting all around him and joined in full-heartedly.<p>

Next to him, Sasori rolled his eyes.

"Idiots," he growled, full-volume. No one seemed to care; they were all way too high off of the night and too excited about their turn to drink from the keg and get cheered on. Deidara, however, glanced at Sasori and rolled his eyes; his grin never left his face.

"Loosen up, Sasori! Yeah!" Deidara laughed, throwing back his head, his almost too-long blond hair whipping around him. "Parties are to have _fun._" Sasori glared at Deidara for stating the obvious; something else that made him want to punch the idiot in the face. He looked up, ignoring Deidara as he said something else he didn't care about and saw Kisame across the yard, talking with Hidan and some chick.

Of course, this half of the Akatsuki was not the half he generally got along with. The party type was not his type. However, Deidara wanted him to come so badly and despite himself, he kind of missed the blond. He was used to him hanging on him everywhere he went, like some kind of obsessed little girl. He was rethinking his decision, however. This party was a complete and total disappointment. There was no one here to amuse him; well, besides Katsusaki.

A small smirk slithered onto his features. She was probably floundering about in such a party. This was not really her type of scene, either. She had probably been imagining some kind of silly book-club sort of party, where the entire Akatsuki would sit around and laugh and joke. That was obviously not the case. Sure, they did have 'parties' like that, but they normally just called them club meetings, or hanging out, depending on who one was talking to.

Without saying anything Sasori walked away from Deidara. The idiot would probably follow him inside once he realized he was gone, but for now he would be free of him for several minuets until he realized it.

* * *

><p>Katsu clenched her fists. She should have realized it—Kisame had locked the doors. It was pretty obvious that he would. She squeezed her eyes shut; she had several options. She could go back inside and ask Kisame for his keys so she could sit in his truck until it was time to go, she could stand out here in the cold air with the drunks that were wandering aimlessly and dancing stupidly on Hidan's front lawn, or she could go back inside with the even bigger mass of drunks but also be warm.<p>

She sighed and dipped her shoulders, bowing her head. She hadn't brought a jacket with her.

She turned around and made her way back into the house, giving everyone else a wide range of space between her and them. When she entered, she thankfully found Sasori immediately. His red hair was shocking against everyone else's dull hues. She pushed through the people, who seemed too used to it by now, and made her way to him easily.

"Have you seen Kisame?" She called above the music.

Sasori looked down at her. Of course he wouldn't have needed to go to her; he was Sasori. But something about the situation bugged him. He was used to the attention, of course, but hers wasn't directed towards him at the moment. He kept the emotion from his face, however.

"No."

She sighed and looked up at him, catching his brown eyes in her own blue stare. She looked disappointed and desperate.

"Alright. Thanks."

Sasori was tempted to stay there with her, but he knew that Deidara would be looking for him at any moment now and this point of his leaving was to get away from him. He pushed past her, glancing behind him only once to see her standing on her tip-toes, trying to look through the crowd and find Kisame.

She was standing against the wall, and when he made it to the other side of the room, he realized that she was not alone. Deidara had finally followed him, but he had seemed to have gotten side-tracked by another certain red-haired person in the room.

Sasori glanced side-ways as someone came through the front door, catching his eye. They widened a fraction in surprise. Now that was definitely someone he never expected to be at this sort of party.

Katsusaki looked up at the strange blond haired boy, her eyes wide. She realized that she recognized him from somewhere as he leaned into her, grinning toothily. A picture of small wooden doll flashed through her mind.

"You-ee," he hummed, giggling idiotically. Her eyes widened and she tensed, realizing that he was incredibly drunk. She could smell the alcohol on his breath. "Lick-meat, are garb-_aaaaage._" He made a weird noise in the back of his throat and Katsusaki winced. She couldn't help but think; what an ass.

She glanced down at the drink in his hand as he came much too close. She backed up, desperate to escape, only to press her back against the wall. She was scared; she knew that she was. Her mind was buzzing with the too loud music, and she was surrounded by people that barley even knew she existed except for this weird blond haired boy that was crowding her, smelling like a drink she knew for sure he shouldn't even be drinking.

"I-I'm wh-what?" She gasped, blushing bright pink as her heart raced. She wanted to run so badly, but he was in her way. She couldn't escape. She was shaking, and she could feel her eyes burning a little bit as she wondered what people who were drunk did. They hit people sometimes, didn't they? Even worse… they raped people. Drunk people raped other people. She struggled to breath past the dry lump in her throat.

"Yooo-re goorb-" He stopped when someone placed a large, long-fingered, pale hand on his shoulder. Someone only a small bit taller than him physically, but otherwise enormous. Katsu blinked and looked upwards; despite their shortness, they were both taller than her.

Surprisingly enough, it was Itachi.

The blond glared at him, turning to face him and opened his mouth to say something, but Itachi ignored him, his black hair falling around his face just so. Even in the heat of the room and the sweaty bodies, he looked cool and reserved. He was so out of place here.

"Our project?" It wasn't a question, though; it was a gentle reminder. Katsu looked up at him, and after he said it and the words finally clicked out of the haze of her adrenaline, she blushed bright red. She had forgotten completely; she was supposed to go to Itachi's house to do their project and finish it up this weekend.

"I'm so sorry!" She yelped. She scrambled to find a clock; there was one on the wall, but she wasn't quite sure it was right. However, it read 9:18. Was it really so early? Did people normally drink this much this early in the night? "I forgot completely; I'm sure I can come over and try to finish it now." She looked up at Itachi, frowning worriedly. "Would your parents mind?"

She was vaguely worried about her mother. She would probably be mad that she was going off with some boy that she hardly knew, but this was for school and very important.

"No." Itachi's answer was simple.

He would never say anything about it, but he had not necessarily come for the project. He figured that if they didn't finish it now he could always get a hold of her in sometime during the weekend. He knew that Kisame was going to one of Hidan's rambunctious parties and that if Katsu wasn't waiting for Itachi, she would have gone with Kisame. The blue-haired boy wasn't one to keep that kind of information from him.

Katsusaki didn't belong at Hidan's parties; she didn't belong anywhere near Hidan's house, despite the fact that she lived so close.

"Uhm, what about Kisame?" She asked as Itachi began to lead her out of the very full house. Now that she was with Itachi again, people were watching. They were watching even more than when Kisame had been leading her around.

Itachi glanced back at her, his gaze piercing. It made her shutter just a bit; he looked so angry. She wondered if it was because he was angry at her.

"He will be too drunk to notice."

Katsu had listened to him talk enough to know that there was emotion in this sentence; and that it was fury that held his tongue.

* * *

><p><strong><em>AU: So? I brought Deidara back in, yeah? XD I know that some of my reviewer's have been asking excitedly about when he would return, since he opened the entire story. I hope desperately that the plot makes sense, and while I have placed my wonderful little Katsu inbetween several of the most attractive men in all of the Narutoverse, I wonder if I have buried myself too deep... And made Deidara a bit of an ass._**

**_Also, I have made conflict between Itachi and Deidara. Did you notice that I did it between them on purpose? XD Because, elegedly, they don't get along in the canon. _**

**_Well, from this point on, I promise there will be a lot more Deidara. I picture him as a very irrational person, so hopefully that explains some of the things I have planned for the future. _**

_I do not condone underage drinking or sex._


	10. Chapter 10

Katsusaki Mo woke with a start.

It was late—or maybe very early, and her heart was thudding in her chest. She had been dreaming, and she didn't quite remember what it was about, but she recalled a certain dark haired, onyx eyed boy—no, man—holding her beneath him…

A dark blush tainted her cheeks, and she hoped desperately that no one could read her mind, like her mother and Hikaru. Well, at least Hikaru. She already knew her mother could read minds—she found this fact out a long time ago.

The weekend had passed without much excitement. She worked a bit more on her gazebo on Saturday and Sunday, did her homework and her laundry, and cleaned her room as was expected of her, messed around on the internet for a good several hours, and bothered Hikaru for details about the blond haired boy that had stopped in during the afternoon on Saturday to play basketball (that is, until Hikaru told him repeatedly to go away.)

The most interesting thing that happened, however, was when Itachi had picked her up from the party the Friday before. It wasn't anything of extreme excitement; he had driven them to some coffee shop downtown that Katsu got the feeling he knew well, though he seemed particularly disgruntled; he didn't know where else to go.

They had taken a seat in one of the booths, and Itachi looked as if he had something he wanted to say, though he never said it. Katsu sat, feeling as if she was caving in. She felt incredibly guilty but she wasn't sure why. Something about the way a frown seemed to be just slightly pulling down at the corners of his lips he was upset about something.

He simply pulled out his camera, however, and took a picture of her coffee cup. They didn't say anything else as they sat there, simply in their own little worlds but in the same bubble. She was terrified mostly because she had no idea what it was that Itachi was thinking at the time. He seemed as if he knew something she didn't.

Katsu continued to wonder who the blond haired boy was. She considered the possibility that he was another member of the Akatsuki's group of friends, and someone that Itachi didn't really like all that much. Her thoughts didn't go far, not as she was gripping her coffee mug tightly and staring out the large and dark windows at the night that had long since settled.

Itachi remembered where Katsu lived with ease, and he didn't say a word as he drove there after she questioned him whether he remembered or not. He didn't turn on any music, and instead Katsusaki distracted herself by listening to the sound of the engine thrumming beneath her. Then her thoughts traveled to the admittedly handsome boy next to her.

His presence seemed to the fill the space; there was no need for him to ever be obnoxious or flamboyant—and maybe that was the reason whyeveryone and anyone knew he was around when he arrived. A simple glance in one's direction could send them reeling, and that was exactly what happened when Katsu found herself staring at the side of his head, and then suddenly into the black that sent a shiver straight down her spine, drilling into her skin in a harsh way. He only watched her for a solitary moment, a single second in time, before his eyes were back on the road again and Katsu found herself wishing that he would look at her again.

Thinking about that day brought imaged of her dream back to her. She could see Itachi's half-lidded, uncaring black eyes when she closed her own.

Spooked, Katsusaki pushed her blankets aside from her and stood on her wooden floor, her toes immediately assaulted by the freezing ground and making her move enthusiastically towards her small rug, where she quickly fell back into her previous attitude of sleep-induced walking. She glanced over at her alarm-clock, that of which blinked a steady beat of '5:21' at her. She sighed; neither her mother, nor her brother, Hikaru would be up this early. In fact, her mother probably wouldn't be up until after she had gone.

She didn't want to go back to sleep, although it would probably be more wise than taking her shower earlier. She went on and showered, anyway.

As usual, the water was too cold when she stepped in, her stupid actions induced by her sleep-filled limbs. The melatonin was gone from her system very quickly, however by the shock of icy cold water slamming into her skin.

Katsusaki yelped, then slapped her hand over her mouth, standing naked in the middle of her bathroom looking very much like a drowned rat. She had a strange feeling that today wouldn't be a very good one.

After dressing and deciding to take a little extra time to make her breakfast—that she only ended up burning after remembering she left her back pack upstairs in her bedroom—she realized she had misjudged the clock and was going to miss the bus. She rushed frantically to gather her things, pulling frantically at her curly hair that was in a wild mess around her head, thus tripping over her own two sneakered feet and went down with a thud.

Feeling defeated, and much too tired, Katsusaki decided that the best action at this point was to just admit defeat. She lay on her face, groaning disdainfully. She wondered if her mother would believe that she was sick, so she could stay home from school.

Suddenly, the phone started to ring. Katsusaki jumped, doing some sort of half-push-up, and looked around frantically. She didn't want it to wake up her mom or Hikaru, and with an unintentionally impressive leap to her feet, she raced to the phone plugged into the wall and yanked it off the hook.

"Who the heck calls someone at seven in the morning?" Katsusaki grumbled to herself before putting the phone to her ear.

"If I had called any later, we would be late."

Katsu blinked. She wasn't sure what to think for one long moment, before a frown of confusion slid across her face. There was no doubting who it was that was calling her, except that she couldn't believe that he would ever be calling her for any reason. Ever. Mostly because he was constantly making her angry; an emotion she wasn't often displaying.

"I'm waiting. Hurry up and get out here before I leave without you."

"You can't just—how did you—where did you get this number from?" Katsusaki squeaked.

"I can't understand you when you're talking at a decibel only _dogs _can hear. Now, I don't like to be kept waiting," Sasori spat. Katsusaki flinched as if he was about to hit her from all the way across the line. He promptly hung up, leaving her to process the information, before she felt the dread she had been feeling only moments before come back with a vengeance.

Despite the horrible feeling she had, she grabbed her backpack and peered out the front door. There, in her driveway, was Sasori's car. The tinted windows allowed her to just barely see that there was someone already in the passenger seat.

With a sigh, that of which flew out of her mouth in a puff of white that surprised her just slightly, having forgotten that winter was going to be coming about very soon, Katsu stepped out on to her porch. She shut her door behind her, and jumped as Sasori hit the horn. It was blaringly loud, and she whipped around, unable to keep the frustrated glare from her face.

Of course, she wouldn't be able to see the secretive smirk that made his lips twist upwards before disappearing completely, leaving him stoic once more.

Katsu made her way to the car and opened one of the back doors, sliding in with little difficulty. What difficulty she did have was purely emotional.

"Hey kid, good morning."

Katsu smiled when she realized very suddenly that the other figure in the car was the hulking Kisame. He looked a bit ridiculous, seeing as the car was relatively small and he was so gargantuan. Sasori glanced at her in the rear view mirror, his brown eyes close to melting her with amusement. She flinched, struggling to ignore him, once again missing the delighted, sadistic smirk that caught his lips every time she did something even remotely depictive of her resentment for him.

Her resentment was mostly coming from Friday night, when he had… she couldn't even think about it. Even the thought made her cheeks turn a sudden sharp shade of pink.

"What are you doing here?" Katsusaki asked as Sasori turned around to back out of the drive way. His eyes flickered to watch her as she desperately tried to avoid making eye contact with him, making it obvious that she was talking to Kisame and not him. The red headed male, however, scoffed at her in an annoyed way.

"Obviously we're taking you to school," he murmured, his voice calm and somehow ridiculously haughty. Before he turned back around, he paused, staring her down. She had her hands folded in her lap and she watched them as if they were the most interesting things in the world. It annoyed him, seeing her pay more attention to her tiny, probably somewhat soft hands instead of him. He couldn't imagine her to be a sculptor of any sort—her hands were too small and pale. He wondered how she would react if he held onto them.

"Why?" Katsusaki frowned. "And how did you get my house number."

"Well, seeing as you always miss the bus…" Kisame teased, looking out of the corner of his eye and the red-headed girl. Her hair was a complete mess, and there were dark circles underneath her ocean blue eyes.

"Konan gave it to us," Sasori answered her second question with ease. Katsusaki frowned, feeling suddenly betrayed by her best female friend in Konoha High. Kisame laughed at the face she made and she only pouted more when she realized that he was laughing at her. This, in turn, caused him to laugh even harder, resulting in Sasori eventually elbowing him roughly in the side due to his annoyance.

"Ouch!" Kisame yelped, though Katsu got the feeling he wasn't really wounded in any way. "I would so hit you back if you weren't driving right now and Katsu wasn't sitting right back there." Sasori must have rolled his eyes, because Kisame laughed again.

Katsu squished herself further into the seat, wishing that they would just be at school already so she could run away. Her wish was swiftly granted, thankfully, as Sasori pulled into a parking space and turned off the car. Katsu was suddenly regretful of choosing the same side as Sasori, seeing as she was suddenly faced with his lazy brown eyes. This time she didn't miss the preditorial smirk that slid across his lips, and she felt like a trapped animal as he pinned her with his gaze. He shut his door without looking, still watching her as she stared back at him, frozen in place. Something in the back of Katsu's mind screamed at her to run away as fast as possible, but something else was holding her in place.

"Hey! Sasori, un!"

Katsu noticed Sasori's gaze flicker to something just above her shoulder and the look of distaste that covered his features before she turned around to find out exactly what it was he was glaring at. She recognized the boy racing towards her almost immediately.

He dodged a crowd of giggling girls, those of which he winked at flirtatiously. They all seemed to blush in unison, their giggles turning obnoxious and annoying. His endless blond hair fell behind him, reaching to his lower back in silken waves. Katsusaki was almost jealous of how beautiful it was, wishing that her hair would be as straight and luscious as that. His blue eyes glittered with a strange excitement as he called out again to Sasori, and Katsu realized she recognized him from Friday.

Fear settled in her stomach. She didn't want to be anywhere near that guy.

"I have to get to class," she mumbled, swiftly walking around the car towards the school.

"Yeah, I have to go, too. Tell Deidara I said welcome back," Kisame chuckled.

He was too far away to really see who the red-headed girl was that Sasori was with, and he didn't particularly care. She walked away suddenly with Kisame towards the school, and there was a slight twang of curiosity but otherwise he didn't particularly care. He had news to share with Sasori; serious news.

"Sasori, Sasori, un!" Deidara yelped as Sasori began to walk away from him. He panted, running faster to catch up, and when he did he was panting hard while the puppet-master rolled his dark brown eyes towards him. Finally, Deidara got enough breath back to speak, though he was too impatient to wait long enough for him to be able to talk without difficulty. "I met the _hottest _girl in the history of _hot _at Hidan's party," he gasped.

Sasori raised his eyebrow, appearing only half curious although he suddenly felt the distinct need to listen. He had a vague idea who he met, but he refused to ask any questions. Something else made his fists clench, though it was likely that it was his annoyance at his own curiosity.

"I remember her so well—she was like an angel. Her eyes—they were like the ocean, so deep, and her hair was so long I just wanted to…" Deidara sighed, lost in some daydream.

"Are you gay?" Sasori spat, feeling a sudden onslaught of anger bubbling in his stomach for a reason he wasn't quite sure of. Deidara was an idiot, and that was likely why he was suddenly glaring at him. "You sound like some kind of love-sick puppy."

Deidara didn't respond as he normally would have, and his anger was suddenly replaced with an intense amount of dread. He struggled to swallow the strange dry lump in his throat, but it didn't go anywhere. He fought off the urge to hit Deidara, and instead focused all of his energy on keeping a level pace and his face stoic.

He imagined Katusaki was in her first hour class by now, whatever that was. He was right, of course. Kisame had ditched her when they passed Itachi, who was busy at her locker, and she waved him goodbye and gave Itachi a smile, who nodded politely in return.

Mr. Hatake wasn't in his room when she got there—probably about to be late, as usual. However, Kakuzu was sitting in his desk, waiting while he absently read through some ginormous book that Katsusaki would never even _consider _tackling.

She took her seat, feeling rather uneventful.

Of course, to her utter despair, English and History passed without much event and much too quickly for her liking. She found herself walking through the hallways between her second and third hour classes, wishing desperately that she was better at faking illnesses. She contemplated just skipping, but that idea was out very quickly. She would feel much too guilty, and she would also be setting a very horrible example for her little brother, which she never wished to do. If he started getting in trouble just because she skipped she would never forgive herself.

Finally, her fear of Shizune yelling at her in front of the entire class for being late made her walk faster and force herself to keep from hesitating as she walked through the door.

Itachi looked up immediately when Katsu walked through the door and the bell rang simultaneously. It wasn't like her to cut it so close, but Shizune called something slightly sarcastic to her, anyway, as she quickly made her way to the back row and took a seat next to Itachi without saying a word. He watched her for a moment as she unpacked her things, handing Itachi a flash-drive as she did so that he took without question, then yanked her notebook from her backpack.

"Your projects should be close to finished by now, so I'm hoping that it won't be a problem to get them in to me by the due date. If it is, feel free to come talk to me. Now, I'm not expecting some top-quality photos—you did just get here, so…"

Katsusaki tuned Ms. Shizune out, instead focusing her attention on a certain bored looking red-headed boy sitting several seats over to her right. He didn't notice her at first—at least, she thought he didn't. Of course she wouldn't know that he had been watching her himself only moments before she turned to look at him.

Something about her was annoying him to no end. He didn't want to admit it, but he had been having thoughts about her all weekend, ever since he saw Itachi drag her off.

The thought of Itachi made his blood boil, and he shifted in his seat. He didn't know what the fuck was wrong with him—not Itachi; _himself. _He was used to being in control of his thoughts and emotions, but as of late it was like they were completely out of his control.

Ice seemed to set in very suddenly as he practically felt her attention on his skin. He had the strange urge to turn to her, stare her down, make her blush bright red as she normally did and fidget in her seat. She was so frustrated with him, so angry, and he loved every second of it.

That was a strange thought to have. That he 'loved' to tease her.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, and they narrowed as he noticed her turned towards Itachi. He had always been indifferent towards the black haired boy, but maybe he was shadier than he previously thought him to be.

"We have all of our pictures, right?" She said to him, and Itachi nodded to her. She smiled. "I'm actually kind of relieved, you know? I felt like I had to take perfect pictures…" She sighed, before realization suddenly crossed over her face. "I guess we won't be hanging out after school much anymore, then…"

It was just a comment, an observation. Itachi nodded in agreement. He was hardly effected by it—he had other things to focus on, anyway. However, he had begun to notice that there was something about Katsu that seemed to draw the entire Akatsuki Club to her. Itachi was not excluded from this realization.

He was curious about her, more curious than he had ever been about any of the other estranged characters the Akatsuki Club members brought into their exclusive circle. She wasn't obnoxious, or in love with him, or jealous of him as many of the others claimed to be. She was simply… interested, curious, nice, and he might even say sweet.

He didn't know what he was doing, or why he was doing it exactly. Maybe it was because she was different, and so she became a novelty. Maybe it was because she had somehow attached him to her in the few short days they had known each other. Maybe it was because she noticed him staring and quietly asked "What?" in her soft voice. Whatever the reason was, Itachi supposed that it didn't really matter.

"We still could."

She blinked at him, her ocean eyes seeming to drown him. "'We still could' what?"

Itachi stared at her for a moment, and she tilted her head. He trusted that she was smart enough for him to not have to be obvious.

"Oh, you mean hang out after school? I suppose so, if you wanted to."

It was as if that was the last word. He turned back to the front of the class, and she thought he was ignoring her because she had said something stupid. At least, until he answered her, that is.

"I want to."

It didn't sound like the end of a conversation, but Ms. Shizune was starting to realize that her class wasn't listening any longer and was yelling at two boys in the front row. Katsusaki Mo smiled, then, and turned away just in time to miss the hidden smile carving Itachi's lips, as well.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AU: I'm so happy! T.T**_

_**The dreaded Writers Block hath gone away, and with it's decent into non-existence, a chapter long since over due arose from the ashes of the poor, forgotten tale of Katsusaki Mo.**_

_**Yeah, alright. Most of my readers are gone. I'll be honest-I probably wont update regularly because I basically just pulled this out of my ass today as of realizing I kinda miss the Akatsuki gang. I don't even know if they're popular any more since the Naruto fandom has pretty much died out since it's stretched on for so long. Poor Masashi. :/ As far as I know, at least. I've also grown a bit since I last posted a chapter.**_

_**I'm in Honors English now, guys. :x It's terrifying. I transferred in at semester, and I'm not sure I quite belong. I needed something to distract me... .**_

_**Anyway, several people posted comments over the last few months and I really appreciate your support, those of you who have encouraged me to continue. So, this is just for you guys! And also everyone else.**_

_**Adios.**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N:**_

_**Hey! Announcement time. Some of you may have noticed that this was updating, but there have been no new chapters. That's because I'm rewriting this thing, and so far it's coming along quite well. Anyway, after going a ways in I realized that the line of the plot has to change some and just replacing the chapters isn't working any more, so if you're still watching this story or you want to catch up with it later, than I'll direct you to the rewritten version, Ersatz Virtuoso which can be found on zee profile.**_

_**Uhm, otherwise... sorry for taking so long. Insert excuses. Really, there are none. I just didn't feel like writing, and I'm going to be honest with you. I'm just a lazy bum.**_

_**Ooh! Also, for anyone interested. I am currently looking for a beta reader for Erstaz Virtuoso, so if anyone is interested, I would be very happy to receive you!**_


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